Rising food prices

[GotGarlic]

Speaking of beef, when did chuck roast (which is good for grinding into hambuger) get so expensive? It's roughly the same price as lean hamburger, close to $5/lb.

C&P from a dinner thread.

A lot of food prices have risen sharply recently, mostly due to drought and disease among some food animals. They will be rising more this year because of the ongoing drought in California. This article is interesting, and a little scary: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/...ast-costing-more-as-u.s.-food-prices-rise.ece

This is why I typically buy meats and poultry on sale. Chuck roast this week is on sale for $3.99/lb., London Broil for $2.99/lb., and bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for 99 cents/lb.

 

[Andy M.]

C&P from a dinner thread.

A lot of food prices have risen sharply recently, mostly due to drought and disease among some food animals. They will be rising more this year because of the ongoing drought in California. This article is interesting, and a little scary: Breakfast costing more as U.S. food prices rise | Dallas Morning News

This is why I typically buy meats and poultry on sale. Chuck roast this week is on sale for $3.99/lb., London Broil for $2.99/lb., and bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for 99 cents/lb.

I've been watching the prices too. I just bought a boneless chuck roast for the freezer on sale for $3.69/Lb.

 

[pacanis]

I guess that's the price I pay for buying certain meats on sale and freezing them. I had no idea chuck roast had risen that much. The last time I bought it it was 2 something a pound.
What I noticed was it being the same price as ground meat, so while hamburger has stayed pretty much the same, chuck roast has caught up to it.

 

[Katie H]

I've been watching the prices at the market rise, too. In one week, milk went from $2.48 per gallon to $2.99 per gallon. Pretty hefty hike in a week's time.

A box of saltine crackers went from $.87 to $1.29 in a week as well.

I'm trying to figure out why frozen vegetables have gone off the scale. Baby lima beans and cauliflower are out of sight.
​

 

[Oldvine]

It's not just the drought or disease that jacks up food costs. It cost piles of money to run farm equipment and then haul the stuff to processors or market. It's not unusual to see a 5000 gallon fuel truck come down the road daily, sometimes twice a day to make deliveries. Tractors gulp fuel.
And it's a real person with a family that likes to be paid more than minimum wage that's picking the stuff and we know that we are all rooting for higher wages for all.
If water is available, it costs money to get it above ground and to the plant growing the food for man or beast to eat. The real mystery is how in the world the farmer has managed this long. Very little food is grown in a back garden of the market.
The reason for a hefty in one week might be because it took awhile for that particular market/distributor to sell off the old inventory that they warehoused at an old price.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Everything is so interconnected to that final price that if one domino wobbles the entire stack starts to shake. The article mentioned higher feed prices contribute to the final cost of the meat. Remember that every time you put the ethanol-blend gas in your car tank, for the corn that could have fed the pig is now feeding your car. Maybe we should just all start riding pigs?

 

[Aunt Bea]

I have also noticed the price of things going up rather quickly. The small family owned market where I buy my meat has roasts that are cheaper than the ground beef. The pricier steaks and chops seem to be holding steady. I see the increase in the cost of ground beef as a hidden tax on families that have come to rely on ground beef as a staple.

I have started scratching my head and digging out some old recipes that use no meat or small amounts of meat. I forget to make some of the old recipes that I grew up with. It is nice to rediscover them and put them back on the menu.

Things like,

Beans and greens
Fried peppers and eggs
Marinara sauce with tuna, capers, olives, etc... over long macaroni
Omelets

What things are you serving now to keep the food budget under control?

 

[Mad Cook]

I've been watching the prices at the market rise, too. In one week, milk went from $2.48 per gallon to $2.99 per gallon. Pretty hefty hike in a week's time.

A box of saltine crackers went from $.87 to $1.29 in a week as well.

I'm trying to figure out why frozen vegetables have gone off the scale. Baby lima beans and cauliflower are out of sight.​

Can't compare milk prices as there is something of a price war led by Aldi at the moment so a UK gallon is costing £1 (our pint is 20 ounces compared with your 16oz). Rooking the farmers, of course. Tesco in particular is famous for paying milk producers less than what it costs them to produce it and the £1 gallon is doubtless making matters worse.

 

[Mad Cook]

C&P from a dinner thread.

A lot of food prices have risen sharply recently, mostly due to drought and disease among some food animals. They will be rising more this year because of the ongoing drought in California. This article is interesting, and a little scary: Breakfast costing more as U.S. food prices rise | Dallas Morning News

This is why I typically buy meats and poultry on sale. Chuck roast this week is on sale for $3.99/lb., London Broil for $2.99/lb., and bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for 99 cents/lb.

I'd say I wish I lived in the USA for food prices if it wasn't for your medical costs. As an example, supermarket basics chuck here is about $6.70lb!!! Mind you, here it's more or less the same cut but it's stewed or braised, not roasted. Chicken breasts come as fillets without the bone and are around $6lb. London broil doesn't exist in British butchery (how odd, given the name).

 

[pacanis]

I have also noticed the price of things going up rather quickly. The small family owned market where I buy my meat has roasts that are cheaper than the ground beef. The pricier steaks and chops seem to be holding steady. I see the increase in the cost of ground beef as a hidden tax on families that have come to rely on ground beef as a staple...

Steaks and chops are steady here, too.
It has me wondering if a new use has been found for chuck roast. Like people have said that skirt steak took a price jump when it became popular.

 

[GotGarlic]

I'd say I wish I lived in the USA for food prices if it wasn't for your medical costs. As an example, supermarket basics chuck here is about $6.70lb!!! Mind you, here it's more or less the same cut but it's stewed or braised, not roasted. Chicken breasts come as fillets without the bone and are around $6lb. London broil doesn't exist in British butchery (how odd, given the name).

Chuck roast here is typically stewed or braised as well; in fact, I have a beef stew made with chuck roast on the stove right now.

We also have boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are more expensive than bone-in, skin-on. I prefer the latter because I like crispy skin and bone-in chicken has more flavor.

From what I've read, London Broil is a method of cooking rather than a cut of meat, although butchers often use the name instead - not sure why (I'd forgotten about that). It's usually a tougher cut from the top round, 2 inches or so thick, then scored, marinated, and broiled or grilled. It should not be cooked past medium-rare unless you're going to braise it.

 

[Andy M.]

I use chuck roasts for just about all slow cooked dishes. Stew, pot pies, braises, chili.

 

[dcSaute]

food prices are only one aspect.

if one has paid any attention to "it's the economy, stupid" one will likely know "inflation" has been held in check.

if one has any inkling of "history" one know this only works for so long.

a 40-50 year "recap:"

- diversify diversify. that'll save us! (the businesses)
- oops. turns out the big guys bought stuff, fired everyone who knew anything about the business (that's the 'economy of scale' thing)
- then found out they didn't know squat about operating the business, which then floundered, so then we had

- "getting back to our core business"
- where the acquired businessi were spun off with no management skills, no money, no capital, already on rocky ground....
- heaps and piles the spin offs failed; rafts of people lost their careers.

next recession we had:
- downsize, baby, downsize.

next recession we had:
- gotta be right sized baby, yeah, right size!

next recession we had:
- fire everybody, outsource everything

which worked only because China became the USA sweat shop.
we created couple hundred thousand Chinese million-/billon- aires.

now the glitch is the outsourcing thing is not working out.
plus China, having thought there was no end to eggs laid by the golden goose....not going too well there comma either.

what's the linking circumstance?

inflation.

costs go up, businesses react. downsize, rightsize, outsource, etc.

so now that business has trimmed all the fat, gotten rid of all those non-productive areas - like R&D - nothing left for the Chinese to copy! -
where does inflation go now?

ps: it goes on the price tag. food included.

 

[GotGarlic]

... so now that business has trimmed all the fat, gotten rid of all those non-productive areas - like R&D - nothing left for the Chinese to copy! -
where does inflation go now?

ps: it goes on the price tag. food included.

Dispiriting but true.

We were just watching ABC News which had a story about rising food prices. Yup, they're coming.

 

[CarolPa]

I'd say I wish I lived in the USA for food prices if it wasn't for your medical costs. As an example, supermarket basics chuck here is about $6.70lb!!! Mind you, here it's more or less the same cut but it's stewed or braised, not roasted. Chicken breasts come as fillets without the bone and are around $6lb. London broil doesn't exist in British butchery (how odd, given the name).

It's hard to compare prices between our country and yours without comparing average salaries in each country. Just like in the US, certain states have a much higher cost of living, but salaries differ, also.

Prices jumped so high in our Aldis I thought I was in Giant Eagle!

 

[CharlieD]

APPLES TRIPLE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS. oops

 

[Somebunny]

Yes, don't get me started on apples. I live in the apple state and our price at the grocery store is sky high! Burns me up too that often what we get is the ones from cold storage. $1.49lb on sale! Some fancy apples are nearly $3.00lb. Outrageous! What do you all pay for apples?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

$1.59 lb at the local store, about the same at walmart. I love it when I can get Granny Smith's for 0.99 lb.

 

[taxlady]

I don't know what regular apples cost because they are high on "The Dirty Dozen" list for pesticide residue. Organic apples usually run about $3-4/lb. I bought apples a lot this summer when I could get Quebec grown, organic apples for $1.99-$2.49/lb. They actually had the ones from Quebec for a several weeks. Don't get me started about imported apples. Quebec is apple country too.

 

[Cheryl J]

Somebunny, I feel your pain. I'm near central California, where we should be getting the freshest bounty of 'America's Salad Bowl' in our grocery stores..... Whole 'nother political topic, I guess. I can get good produce in the local farmer's markets, but 'local' is about an hour's drive away.

Apples run between .99/lb and $1.50 a pound here.