The week flew by in a blur-like state since returning home from Aruba. The combination of almost 3 weeks away, let lag, returning home and starting work on a Friday last week, which is an odd day to start work again, all made this week seem surreal.
However, I’ve had a few great runs outdoors this week.
I saw some pretty trees and flowers on my path.
Lots of juicy fruit has been consumed.
As well as green salads
Dressed with homemade Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing
And for snacks there have been always a few handfuls of these
And a few handfuls of Peanut Butter Chex Mix, i.e. Puppy Chow (Vegan, GF, No Bake, Easy & Fast)
And I’ve washed it all down with Vanilla Iced Coffees
These just hit the spot in the summer. Or year round.
I don’t discriminate with coffee. I’ve previously reviewed about 20 different types of coffee.
Speaking of coffee, I went to TJ’s yesterday to pick up some of my beloved “daily brew” coffee, Dark Sumatra. For the price, and availability, and just all around, this is the coffee I reach for day in, day out, after I’ve tired of Smores Coffee or specialty brews which are fun here and there, but Sumatra is my daily workhorse.
I noticed the price went up from $4.99 to $5.99. That doesn’t sound like much but it’s an almost 18% price increase.
I asked a TJ’s employee was I mistaken or did prices go up and she told me that yes, prices did indeed increase on coffee because there is a worldwide shortage of coffee from things like poor weather in the growing regions to more people worldwide drinking coffee to continued weakness in the Dollar.
All of these factors and more are driving up coffee prices and they are at a 34 year high.
Folgers also raised their coffee prices.
She also said that cocoa prices went up, too, for similar reasons.
From my last post, Eating the Rainbow Recipes, it was fun to hear what Rainbow colored foods are your favorites to eat and most everyone agreed that eating rainbow-colored foods found in nature just make you feel so much better.
Questions:
1. Have you noticed any grocery prices rising in your area? Or any particular items that are now more expensive?
Jenn and I have discussed this a bit and so I know others are experiencing rising prices.
Hypothetically speaking…My musings, thoughts, and opinions only follow…
Imagine if your groceries, across the board, went up 18 to 20%.
That means that the $100 you used to spend for the week for your groceries, just turned into $120. Are you making more? Can you afford $120 instead of $100? I don’t think anyone is getting a raise of 20% just to cover their possibly rising grocery bill.
But what if you couldn’t pay more for food. You just don’t have the money. Since you can’t pay more, you’ll just have to eat less. Cruel thinking, but let’s play out the example.
You only have $100 to spend, but now you are really getting about $80 dollars worth of food rather than the $100 you’re used to because of the increase in prices. Are you going to make sure your kids eat first? So will you be the one hungry? Someone’s going to be hungry if you’re used to get x amount of food and now you’re getting x – 20 and you don’t have any extra income.
Or will you take on a second job?
20% is not a small amount for the average person or family to cover or absorb. It doesn’t sound like much, here and there, but as a lump sum, it becomes very significant. Imagine if prices did rise 20% across the board for groceries. Or imagine if your auto insurance went up 20% or your mortgage payment suddenly went up 20%. However, those things aren’t going up as fast as food prices are rising.
Have you noticed any rising food prices? Overall, you likely have. Food prices have been, and continue to be, on the rise, overall.
3. How would this effect you and your life?
Would you eat less in general?
Would you eat at home more? Less takeout? Cook more?
Buy generic?
Part with the “I have to have organic” thoughts and buy whatever is cheapest? (this is what I frequently do)
Grow your own food? (this is not always cheap, easy, or effective. Could you feed yourself with what you can grow on urban NYC on balcony or in rural North Dakota in January? Didn’t think so.)
I have a post on Saving Money at the Grocery Store which has been a popular one and I give some of my real-life suggestions and tips. How to feed a family and not go in debt is a real issue for so many.
Lots to think about with our food supply both in this country and worldwide and how this global picture translates and boils down to mom and pop and kid just trying to get dinner on the table and eat healthfully and affordably. I still think you can eat the rainbow and not break the bank.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts about this! And again, my opinions only, my musings, and just my stop and say hmmm, thoughts of the day and in no way a complete commentary on this extremely complex topic.
P.S. Last reminder to enter my Coconut Oil Giveaway. Winner announced Friday (next post).
I truly hope that prices don’t continue to rise without my paycheck doing the same, because I’d hate to resort to how I lived RIGHT outta college with very little moolah to my name (aka big on the rice and beans route). However, I did make a promise to myself that if I had to make sacrifices, healthy and quality food would be one of the last things that I’d sacrifice. Rather cut back on treats and fun outtings than on the food that fuels me every day!
A few handfuls of mega chunks? zomg I couldn’t put that bag down when I received it in the mail. They’re SO good!
The prices of groceries are so high in Canada, it’s amazing. Organic is generally out of the question, unless I can get it at Superstore. Usually organic red peppers are $5 EACH. Yaaa… I wish I could afford that, but I just can’t!
You pay $4 for a gallon of gas! Wouw, that’s cheap in my opinion! I’m from Holland and yesterday I payed 1,68 euro for 1 liter. A liter is almost 1/4 of a gallon and a euro is worth $1,50. So 1 gallon of gas would cost about $10,00 over here (am I right?). In Holland lots of people drive small cars to cut back on fuel, you understand why!
The price of food is also increasing over here, but I think it’s not much of a problem for most people. Organic food is quit expensive, though. It’s interesting to read about living in the US! Love from Holland, Dutchgirl
i have noticed prices rising slightly, it’s such a shame ~ but i think this is happening not with just groceries, but with everything right now. i don’t think that i could change my spending with food that much, as of now we really don’t buy a ton ~ i’m of the belief that quality trumps quantity. but if i had to cut corners, i would probably not buy organic for some things like i do now.
xo kristina
I feel like every time I go to the grocery store my bill goes up. I don’t know if I just keep eating more or if the prices keep rising. :)
Ugh, yes definitely noticing the price increases – especially at the newly remodeled store I shop at (that they are moving crap around in again). I’ve started really paying attention to prices and separating out my lists. I used to buy the majority of items at one place, but now I will map out a day when I’m near the place that has them cheaper. I also try to use coupons whenever possible. Can’t wait for my garden to really get going so I can stop forking out too much money for tomatoes and bell peppers.
This is probably terrible, but I typically don’t pay close attention the grocery prices. HOWEVER, last weekend during my 4-grocery-store hunting trip I did notice that may of my favorite “health” foods (almond milk, a certain brand of greek yogurt, tempeh, etc) are actually CHEAPER at Whole Foods. I was pleasantly shocked!
Cocoa is also expensive because you get 50% butter and 50% powder from cocoa beans. Butter is expensive, and it’s sitting in silos, not selling very well. Companies that make cocoa powder and butter are having to make money off their cocoa powder. Coffee is crazy, and there isn’t much we can do. Part of it is fund involvement. Instead of making money from the stock markets (or in addition to), fund managers are also making money from agricultural futures. It makes it very tough because the fundamentals don’t always apply when it comes to actually buying the food. It could be a great crop year and prices aren’t predictable because of fund involvement.
In the US, we pay a lot less for our food than do people in other countries. We have been very lucky. I was reading about a family in Guatemala. 80% of their income goes to food. They really do eat less.
Maybe it’s because we are in the middle of a recession, but I think that we will have to start paying more for food. I don’t think there is rally any way around it.
It always takes me a little while to get back into my element after a trip. Sounds like you’re definitely getting back into your groove though. LOVE puppy chow… it’s been WAY too long since I’ve had it.
I tend to keep an eye more on gas prices than food prices (more visible = easier I guess?), but I do notice if some of my staples go up in prices. That said, I don’t think I would ever skimp on my staples. I eat what I eat because I feel it fuels my body it a healthy way and makes ME feel good. If non-staple items went up in prices, I would probably be willing to find an alternative or cut them out if it was TOO high to afford. But with staples, I would make other adjustments in my buying to keep affording what I know makes me feel healthy and energized, and tastes good.
As a graduate student, I definitely could not cope with a 20% increase in my grocery bill. I try to feed myself well, both quantity and quality. I’d have to part with some natural products if there were an across-the-board increase, but my first effort would be to reduce unnecessary spending elsewhere in my budget. I try to buy locally, in bulk, and part of the reason I’m vegan is because of the economic and environmental effects of eating and producing animal products. I definitely would not part from these values, because I believe it would exacerbate the problem in my own, albeit small, way.
I just bought some more coffee the other day, too, and I thought it was abnormally high. :(
And I honestly believe you can eat completely healthy and b on a budget. You don’t have to go out and buy goji berries or cacao nibs to be healthy. Regular produce is not terribly expensive. I get organic produce from a co-op every other week-and it is good food for really good prices.
Yeah i noticed about the price increment,especially a gas prices,sometimes it becomes really tough at the end of month,when the gas is about fill and we don’t have the idea about the exact price rise of the market,at the month end mostly of us have a tight budget.
I wish these price fluctuations don’t get place in such random action.
I saw an article about the coffee shortage/price rise a few days ago but I’ll just search around for some coupons and hopefully hit a sale:)
To keep my bill down i don’t buy much processed food, I ALWAYS look for coupons, and i only buy in season (aka the cheapest) fruits and veggies and most times from road side stands or farmers markets. I also have a garden so i cant wait for it to start producing veggies:)
i love talking coffee – on my blog today, too!
rising prices: i definitely feel it with gas for my car. i try to drive as little as possible but do make a round trip to toronto (one hour each way) at least weekly, and it is a hit to the pocketbook. but family time > money, so i’ll make adjustments elsewhere.
food prices: i stash when items i love are on sale (ex: starbucks via coffee – have enough for at least two months now!). and if i suddenly HAD to do with 20% less for groceries, i would pick cheaper items, but not reduce QUANTITY. ex: tofu for $0.99 instead of chicken breasts, say. and organic would have to go.
wow, can’t believe you’ve been back a week already, you’ve accomplished so much in the last seven days of being home!
Green Mountain Coffee just sent out a notice to their customers informing us that the price of coffee is going up as well. I didn’t calculate out the percentage increase (and I can’t find the letter) but it was significant.
Despite that though, my grocery bill has stayed relatively stable…but I try to buy my produce locally sourced and in season. I’m especially excited for the farm down the road to start selling it’s produce because there’s nothing better than fresh veggies straight from a garden!
Yep…I just got “the letter” from green mountain explaining their recent price increase (I “subscribe” to their coffee club so get auto shipments) It feels like it just happened a couple months ago, but they had to rise again! So glad it’s not like that across the board for groceries.
I am very grateful that I have the time, for now, to make a lot of the more expensive things that would otherwise be on my grocery list. Handing over $5 for the good bread when I don’t have time to make it just about kills me because I know it’s a fraction of that from scratch. Other things like granola bars, boxes of cookies or munchies, too. All very expensive in comparison to how much the ingredients cost me if I were to make them. None of this stuff has risen, necessarily, just something I’ve always noticed.