The Rising Cost of Food
As Co-op members, we’ve committed ourselves to shopping for quality food; healthy ingredients, local whenever possible and organic. That commitment often comes with a higher price tag, as American farm policy benefits conventional/industrial food. But we’ve accepted that and supported our food cooperative, local farmers, making a thriving local Co-op in our rural area a reality. Now we’re heading into what appears to be challenging times for food prices all around.
Reasons for rising costs
Since January, worldwide food prices have skyrocketed, largely because a “perfect storm” of events drove grain and feed prices upward. Oil prices and the accompanying increase in shipping costs were most central to this storm, of course, but so was a wild, “gold rush” level of investment in the grain market. With the mortgage crisis all but capping real estate investment, stock speculators have been pouring money into grain futures, which were already inviting attention with rising prices last summer.1
USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag explained the jumps in a recent presentation to the Food Marketing Institute, starting with the factors everyone knows about: sharply higher commodity costs for wheat, corn, soybeans and milk, plus higher energy and transportation costs.
The other reasons are more complex. Rapid economic growth in China and India has increased demand for meat there, and exports of U.S. products, such as corn, have set records as the weak dollar has made them cheaper. That’s lowered the supply of corn available for sale in the U.S., raising prices here. U.S. agriculture’s mass conversion to corn to meet President Bush’s commitment of blending 35 billion gallons of ethanol into the U.S. gasoline supply by 2017 has also diverted corn from dinner tables, causing corn for feed to become “rare” and expensive.
Soybean prices have gone up as farmers switched more of their acreage to corn. Drought in Australia has even affected the price of bread, as it led to tighter global wheat supplies.
After nearly two decades of low food inflation, the U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years. Prices for staples such as bread, milk, eggs, and flour are rising sharply, surging in the past year at double-digit rates, according to the Labor Department. Milk prices, for example, increased 26 percent over the year. Egg prices jumped 40 percent.2
But let’s put all this doom and gloom into perspective. On average, Americans spend a lower percentage of their income on food than they ever have in our country’s history. And American households still spend a smaller chunk of their expenses for food than in any other country -- 7.2 percent in 2006, according to the USDA. By contrast, the figure was 22 percent in Poland and more than 40 percent in Egypt and Vietnam.
At VFC, we’re doing all we can to keep food prices down
The Viroqua Food Co-op is a member of the cooperative group the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA). This organization aims to provide the vision, leadership and systems to keep food co-ops prominent in the natural foods industry. Co-ops can band together just as individuals do to form co-ops for the benefit of their members. The NCGA is one such organization that includes 110 grocery co-ops around the US. These independent co-ops, creating a ‘virtual chain’ through NCGA, were able to negotiate improved distributor pricing contracts that translate into lower prices for our members. Look for the ‘Prices Are Falling’ tags on our shelves identifying products with new reduced pricing.
Even though we cannot control the many forces driving the rising cost of food, or the wholesale prices charged by manufacturers, we’re working every angle to keep prices in line!
CAP (Co-op Advantage Program) monthly specials are available to all shoppers and are found in the monthly CAP sales flyer. CAP sales are another result of NCGA membership, bringing deep discounts on top quality products every month. (Because these specials are negotiated on a region-wide basis, we may not have access to all of the items in the flyer. If you see an item you are interested in that we don’t carry, please ask a Buyer. They may be able to special order it for you.) These flyers are available in the store, inserted into our bimonthly newsletter, Pea Soup and inserted into the Vernon Co. Broadcaster and LaFarge Epitaph on the months there is not a newsletter. CAP specials have CAP on the tag near the item.
We have a new sales program called bi-weekly buys with discounted prices in every department of the store. A complete bi-weekly buys flyer is available in the store and bi-weekly buys signage helps you locate the products on the shelf. We also include some of the sales info in our weekly email. Sign up for the email list at our website, http://viroquafood.coop
Member Only Specials are monthly specials available only to members. They are listed in the Pea Soup or in an in-store flyer at the membership desk. Look for Member Only Special signage near the item.
Saving money while maintaining a commitment to eating high quality, health-sustaining food can be done!
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead, whether you can do it a week or a month at a time, saves not only money, but also time and stress. I know when my children were young, if it was 4pm and I didn’t know what was for dinner the stress level was high, and I was more likely to reach for more expensive convenience foods, go out to eat or end up with not-so-healthy snacks for dinner. So I made up a general monthly meal plan with 5 dinners per week, and then adjusted it each week. By having a basic plan in place, when 4pm rolled around I knew what I had in the cupboards and what meals I could make.
Planning ahead also helps you take advantage of sales. Take a look through the monthly CAP sales, member discounts & bi-weekly buys flyers to see what the sales are and plan your menu accordingly. If a product you use quite often is on sale, order a case of it so you get the sale price even after the month is over.
Take notice of what produce is in season; when supplies are abundant the price is down. And the produce department is happy to cut per pound items like melons and cabbages in half if you don’t need a whole one (but not per bunch items).
Hurray for Homemade
In the spring 2006, Mary Saucier Choate of the Hanover Consumer Co-op of New Hampshire worked with two dietetic interns on a class she teaches on how to save money on food purchases. They gathered data and analyzed cost comparisons on products and on eating out vs. home prepared. The savings on eating at home were very significant - 40% a month on groceries even before any sale prices are added in.
Sometimes, we balk at the “high price” of organic meat, but are still willing to stop at a burger joint for a quick meal. So I decided to do a little cost comparison. Going to a local fast food restaurant for a Butter Burger, crinkle fries, and small soda for a family of 4 people costs $19.28. Here’s the breakdown for making a burger meal at home with regular priced organic ingredients:
$1.93 4 Rudi ww organic. buns
$6.99 1 lb. Lange organic ground beef
$ .82 misc. condiments (ketchup, mustard, pickle)
$1.76 4 svgs Sno Pac crinkle-cut fries made with organic potatoes
$3.32 4 cans Blue Sky organic soda
$14.82 Total
If you choose Cedar Crest organic milk instead of soda, the total is $13.23. In the time it takes to drive to the restaurant and make your order, you can be eating a better meal, with higher quality organic ingredients at home that costs 22% less.
Time can be a factor, but even preparing a few meals a week at home is a step towards savings and better nutrition. Shopping with a list, having a general game plan of meals for the week, planning to make extra to freeze for a super quick meal on busy nights and not shopping when hungry are additional ways to save money on food. With this plan, more meals can be homemade, timesaving and healthful, while saving money to boot!
by Charlene Elderkin, July/Aug 2008 Pea Soup, Viroqua Food Cooperative
1 Barth Anderson, “Going with the Grain: Organic Valley Fights to Stabilize Food Prices Cooperatively”
2 Ellen Simon, AP Business Writer, “Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years,”
3 Mary Saucier Choate, M.S., R.D., L.D., “Saving Food Dollars at the Co-op!”