Lou McLeod: Rising Food Prices – 6 Proven Strategies to Stretch Your Food Budget

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Rising Food Prices - 6 Proven Strategies to Stretch Your Food Budget - Plus Factors Involved in Rising Food Costs to Help You Plan for Price Increases

It’s hard to step foot into a grocery store and not notice the rising food prices. Packages are getting smaller, too, as I’m sure you’ve noticed if you use any older recipes that include any sort of boxed or canned item as a component. USA Today reported in “Rising Food Prices Pinch Consumers” that, “Retail food prices rose 0.4% in March (2014), the same as in February and the largest amount since September 2011. By comparison, the prices of all consumer goods rose 0.2% in March and 0.1% the month before, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” Some items have risen over 50% in cost over the last four years. In this post we’ll look at what’s causing the food price increases, and what steps you can take to stretch your food dollars in the months to come.

Rising Food Prices - 6 Proven Strategies to Stretch Your Food Budget - Plus Factors Involved in Rising Food Costs to Help You Plan for Price Increases

What’s Causing Rising Food Prices?

There are three main factors bumping up prices: Drought, Disease and Demand. We’ll take a quick look at some examples.

In the article “The 10 Fastest Rising Food Prices“, their top ten list includes:

Bacon
Ground Beef
Oranges
Coffee
Peanut Butter
Margarine
Wine
Turkey
Chicken
Grapefruit

These items have increased in price over the last four years from 22% to 53%. Many of these are common menu items for many Americans. What’s going on?

The pigs are sick. Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PED or PEDV) showed up in the US in mid-2013, and has killed about 7 million piglets since that time. The virus kills 80 to 100% of the piglets that contract it.

Beef production is down due to years of drought in the US and abroad. Read “Epic’ Four-Year Texas Drought Prompts Record Beef Prices in US” and “Australia’s 2014-15 Wheat and Beef Production Down Due to Drought” for more information. As China’s economy grows, the people are eating more meat, and that’s a lot of people.

The coffee plants are sick. Drought in Brazil is hitting hard, and leaf rust is damaging trees across Central America and Peru.

Peanut production was down due to farmers growing other crops on the acreage, but that may be improving. Of course, it’s a rare thing that prices come down again once they’ve gone up.

Citrus crops in California and Florida are being wiped out by citrus greening bacteria, which causes trees to produce green, disfigured and bitter fruits, and eventually kills the tree. The 2013 citrus crop was the smallest in 24 years, primarily due to this disease. Learn more at “Disease Ravages Florida, California Citrus Crop“.

Higher corn and soybean prices have contributed to rising meat prices since they are the primary feedstocks used in most CAFOs. This also accounts for the margarine price increase. Drought, increased demand for fuel as well as food, increasing crop damage due to pesticide resistant pests all play a factor.

California wine, which accounts for about 90% of US wine production, has undoubtedly been affected by the drought, as well as increased demand.

I think everyone has heard about the massive bee die offs, both honeybees and native bees. Without the bees, much of our food production would be wiped out.

I strongly believe that it is only a matter of time before our monocrop agriculture system is hit even harder by plant and animal diseases, and that this is only a first taste of what’s to come. Pack a bunch of the same plant or animal in one spot, introduce lots of chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics) that destroy the natural ecosystem, and you create a perfect breeding ground for pathogens. You can read more about this in “What if I Told You Weeds and Bacteria Could Save Your Life?“.

6 Proven Strategies to Protect Yourself Against Rising Food Prices

There is no magic bullet or one size fits all plan, but there are several strategies you can use to provide more food for less money.

#1 – Grow Your Own

You don’t need a ton of space, just some time, dirt and patience. (If you use aquaponics, you can grow fish and vegetables and don’t even need dirt.) There is a growing movement encouraging urban food production, through centralized initiatives such as Growing Power, and individual efforts such as those discussed in the article, “Urban Backyard Food Production as a Strategy for Food Security in Melbourne (Australia)“. We have over 40 Gardening Articles on this website, covering everything from seed starting and season extension to proper crop storage, with several articles on individual crops such as blueberries.

The time to learn to grow food is not in the middle of a shortage or when you are facing real hunger – the time to start is when it’s okay if you screw up because you have backup. It really burns my biscuits to watch preparedness shows and see people say, “We have seeds and we’re going to learn to garden when things get bad.” DON’T BE THAT GUY!

Recommended Resources:

#2 – Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Co-op

If you really don’t have time to garden or you have a black thumb, you can support people who do. With a CSA arrangement, you purchase a share or half share before the season starts, and you get a box of vegetables, fruits and sometimes other items from your local farm. You pay up front so the farmer has money to cover expenses, and your price is locked in for the season. Some CSAs will offer a discount in exchange for help on the farm, or offer excess crops at a discount to CSA members.

Recommended Resources:

#3 – Forage for Wild Edibles and Unharvested Surplus

There are many edible wild plants, and often folks with fruit trees will have more fruit than they care to deal with. Ask around at your church or other community organization. These foods are basically free for the picking. You can learn more about edible wild plants on our Herbs and Wildcrafting page.

Recommended Resources:

#4 – Store Food

Depending on what you store and how you store it, food may have a shelf life of up to 25 years or even longer. They found honey in Egyptian tombs that was completely edible.

Salt, sugar, raw honey and alcohol will keep indefinitely if stored in an airtight, non-reactive container.
Hard grains such as wheat, corn, buckwheat and millet will keep for around 10-12 years
Soft grains such as barley, oats, quinoa and rye will last around 8 years
Beans and lentils may lat 10-30 years in airtight containers with the oxygen removed
Flours, mixes and pastas will last around 5-8 years, with white rice lasting up to 10 years (brown rice requires freezing or refrigeration or it will go rancid)
Chia seeds and sprouting seeds will last from 2-5 years
Coconut oil will last for over 2 years. Solid fats will keep better than liquid oils.
Canned meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, coffee, tea, peanut butter, hard candy, powdered milk and dried herbs and spices will last 2-5 years

Watch for sales, buy in bulk, preserve your garden produce or other local produce. (Given the current hog production trouble, Yoders’ Canned Bacon might be a better investment than the stock market.)

Learn more about food storage at:

#5 – Shop Smarter

Watch for sales and discounts on seasonal produce.
Use coupons only if they are items you really use. Don’t buy a more expensive item “just because you have a coupon” and not end up saving at all.
Watch store flyers for loss leaders and stock up on items that keep well.
Buy store brands.
Look for ethnic markets to get great pricing on certain foods. Our local Asian markets have great bulk rice prices.
Watch for discounted day old bread and baked goods.
Buy in bulk. Look for family sizes to repackage at home instead of single serving containers.
Buy fewer processed items and more raw ingredients. Example – whole carrots will likely be a better deal than baby carrots.
Watch for “must sell” produce near the end of its shelf life. I have purchased many bags of brown bananas over the years.

Rising Food Prices - 6 Proven Strategies to Stretch Your Food Budget - Plus Factors Involved in Rising Food Costs to Help You Plan for Price Increases

#6 – Reduce Food Waste

Make sure you’re using as much of everything you grow and purchase as you possibly can. A great deal is not a great deal if food goes to waste. Get creative with reworking leftovers. Turn bones into stock to use as a base for soups and sauces. Cook more at home to save money compared to dining out. Buy in bulk and repackage or preserve your garden produce with a vacuum sealer to virtually eliminate freezer burn.

Every little bit adds up!

This Post is Part of the “What’s Your Threat” Cooperative Blog Hop

What’s Your Threat? What’s the biggest threat to you and your family? Check out some amazing blogs and how they attack their biggest threats to being more prepared and more self-reliant!

Rising Food Prices - 6 Proven Strategies to Stretch Your Food Budget - Plus Factors Involved in Rising Food Costs to Help You Plan for Price Increases