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97 comments on Food Price Inflation

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dissident on December 17, 2007 - 11:37am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Interesting, so the food price increases I have been seeing are double what the farmers/producers have been getting. I guess one could pin that on transport costs, but one would think that farmers feel the full force of fossil fuel prices so they should be driving the inflation.

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mcgowanmc on December 17, 2007 - 12:01pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Farmers are the only producers who buy retail and sell wholesale.

All farmers can do is hold back product.

Which is costly and the USDA/Merchants of Grain
will take advantage of everytime.

The only protest a farmer has:

Stop producing. How's that working?

Or war.

Or no more grain can be produced. Usually associated with
Death of Empires.

Kunstler-

The nation is acting just now like a crowd of bystanders watching a car wreck that has nothing to do with them -- as though they were just occupying the Nascar grandstand on a particularly bad day. They'll discover soon that it's their own society that's hit the wall out there on the track. It raises the question, under the circumstances, as to whether the next presidential election will have any legitimacy.

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urbangardener on December 17, 2007 - 12:35pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Thanks for these fascinating graphs. I agree that the updated 2006-2007 price hikes need to be reflected in some of them.

I also agree with mcgowanmc that the food crisis is already here in the USA if you know where to look for it. A demand spike for food assistance is becoming difficult to meet. When you consider the rising costs of other household budget items ie utilities such as heating and cooling, the pennies are being pinched in food budgets of the poor. And in the USA, the poor eat MORE processed foods not less. [Dollar meals at McD's] The urban poor also pay more for their food than suburban shoppers because grocery food costs more in the city, especially if the closest food is at the 'convenience' stores.

Not scientific but in our town some school PTA meetings have seen increased attendance when canned food is available those nights.

Food prices will continue to rise, given the fact that agriculture is so dependent on unsustainable practices. So I understand the food hoarding recommendations as anticipatory preparation for even worse food prices or shortages.

However, I think hoarding food is not as helpful in the long run as learning how to grow food yourself and sharing that info and experience with others around you.

Happiness is... a peaknik in his victory garden.

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mcgowanmc on December 17, 2007 - 12:56pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

There you go. 8D

And almost all of a dandelion is edible.

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Jason Bradford on December 17, 2007 - 1:26pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

This is a really interesting article.

Your thoughts parallel my own.

When I think about eating less processed food, and work to do so myself, it means I buy grains and dry beans in bulk, mix with fresh veggies from my garden and farm...in other words, I engage in old fashioned home economics and can eat very cheaply. The rise in the price of dairy isn't so much of a big deal when I am saving in so many other ways.

However, I am putting in the time to think about this, organize my habits accordingly, and be creative. I also happen to have little cultural resistance to eating this way, as my wife and I are very health conscious and aware of the hazards of eating highly processed foods.

By contrast, I listen with sadness to people lamenting about how difficult it is for them to NOT eat the food they are used to. Mothers saying their husband and kids don't like the "new" food they try to cook. Single parents working 2 jobs have little time to do the extra work it takes to shift behavior patterns.

It is all unsustainable, of course, but you can imagine the tension that builds.

ps. I am wondering if anyone has familiarity with what food banks accept. I am familiar with canned goods being highly desired, but what if I wanted to donate a 50 lbs bag of whole grain wheat? Would they be able to give it away? Do the people they serve have grain mills?

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SCM on December 17, 2007 - 9:04pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

There are some good suggestions in the comments to a thread on casuabons book - see here:
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/11/saving-life-that-may-be-your-o...

To summarise: they won't find your unprocessed grain useful. Typically the recipients may be working multiple job and don't have the time or resources for processing very basic foods (in many cases it may be older kids cooking). Canned foods are popular as some do not have even the means to cook and canned food is still OK cold. Food banks accept cash donations too.

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juanqoyote on December 17, 2007 - 3:22pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Sure, for the long term growing and sharing are the only answers. But an element of hoarding is inherent to the grow-your-own solution. Until such time as each of us is competent to survive by the fruit of our garden it may still be prudent to stock-pile essential staples. As we have seen, courtesy of various natural desasters, our nation's storehouse on wheels quickly presents bare cupboards when disrupted. Harvest time can seem a long way off especially if you are eating your seed grain.

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Jason Bradford on December 17, 2007 - 3:11pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

In the U.S., only about 20% of the energy that goes into getting food into mouths is consumed by farm operations (including the embedded energy of equipment and fertilizers).

See: http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/21368509

I think the energy inflation of the 70s and 80s did a lot to reduce the energy footprint of farming, so yes, many farmers are complaining that they can't cut back more.

See: http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=7175
Diesel prices pick farmers' wallets
Fresno, Dec. 5, 2007

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for commodity food and energy prices to spill over into the retail sector given the sources Stuart cites. I have seen suggestive articles that this began in earnest in 2007. Each part of the "food chain" has what economists would call a "menu cost" for changing their prices that puts friction into the price system. I suspect transportation would be the main driver since they can pass on higher costs to customers via fuel surcharges, whereas most farmers are at the whim of commodities brokers and can't directly pass on the burden of higher fuel and fertilizer costs.

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alistairC on December 18, 2007 - 12:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

In the U.S., only about 20% of the energy that goes into getting food into mouths is consumed by farm operations (including the embedded energy of equipment and fertilizers).

The corollary to this, surely, is that there is a HUGE reservoir of energy savings (most of the remaining 80%) in reducing the length of the processing/distribution/consumption chain.

I am alarmed that "home refrigeration/preparation" consumes more energy than primary food production...

A diet based on local, unprocessed, fresh foods being the ideal. (A few fancy far-flung condiments, and fine wines, are excusable because they are only a small proportion of one's total consumption!)

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97 comments on Food Price Inflation

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