Food price insanity - More per pound for tomatoes than for chicken

reply to post by tsawyer2


Well you are my idol. I hope to be able to master canning too. Lol. I have been watching videos of it, and it looks doable. I remember my mom canning and just wish I had paid more attention.

And according to the Economist, there are some indications that we have hit a biological limit to food production, in terms of increasing crop yields per acre. It was that steady increase of yield per acre that has allowed us to balloon in population the way we have. But lately, even in test crops under ideal controlled conditions, they yields are either stagnant or decreasing.

Population, on the other hand, is increasing. As are fuel prices, and fuel plays a large role in food production and distribution. All of these factors, combined with the climate change, and its large impact on crops the last couple years, point to really tight times ahead for us.

If you want to have a relatively stable ride in the next decade, you really should be trying like a mad person to switch to locally produced foods as much as you possibly can. These wide spread complex "just in time" supply schemes that businesses have loved because they cut the cost of storing inventory are going to work against us in times of crisis.

Get out and garden people, and see what else you can buy from the small farms in your neck of the woods.

Originally posted by randomname
i went to the supermarket and i saw a gallon of milk for $7.95. wtf. what excuse to they have for the cows.

they ran out of antifreeze for the cows so their milk bladder froze.

it's great being a nobody citizen with no cash. that's a challenge. humility and humbleness are the greatest weapons that and a good right hook.

Wow, that is absolutely out of control!!! Milk is one of those "price controlled" commodities, too. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a photo of that shelf price and send it to every outlet you can find. That is a gouging issue for sure.

Originally posted by larphillips

The trick is to blanch then skin your tomatoes. It's easier then to can them as whole tomatoes and make your sauce after you open up the jar. Also, using the right tomatoes for this is key. You can't go wrong with the plum/roma varieties... more meat and less seed and goo. Good luck with this. There is nothing better than a pasta sauce made in the winter with some nice, home canned summer tomatoes.

I think I will try that. My mom used to get with my aunt and they would end up with made sauce that was canned, but I will try the whole canned idea.

I love my roma tomatoes so those are what I'll use.

Food price insanity

Sure is... and it's likely only going to get far worse.

Huge crop damages due to weather, flooding, etc.

I think I saw a report where Major growers in the southwest and Cali had massive crop damage this year, with one particular area being responsible for growing nearly 70-80% of all garden greens and the like consumed in the US.

Add to that the ever-increasing fuel costs and thing are about to get Quite pricey on the shelves at your local markets.

Even places like Subway and various pizza chains are already posting signs notifying their customers that they might not receive their typical portion of various veges and whatnot on their orders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We've gardened for years and do a fair share of canning as well. Actually, just recently bought a dehydrator and will definitely be putting it to good use in the coming months ... veges, herbs, fruits, etc.

We've long-since gotten rid of the chickens each of the kids brought home from school [biology class], but we might very well be repopulating that chicken coup in the near future ... with both layers and capons [meat chickens]

It is nuts when you think about it. I made a chicken dish the other night for dinner and paid more for the green pepper and onion than I did for the chicken itself.
1 med. onion: 1.60
1 med. green pepper: 1.85

Last night I made a pot of split pea and ham soup and paid more for the the stalk of celery, onion and bag of baby carrots than I did for the 5# ham shank.
:shk:

Originally posted by tsawyer2

Originally posted by larphillips

The trick is to blanch then skin your tomatoes. It's easier then to can them as whole tomatoes and make your sauce after you open up the jar. Also, using the right tomatoes for this is key. You can't go wrong with the plum/roma varieties... more meat and less seed and goo. Good luck with this. There is nothing better than a pasta sauce made in the winter with some nice, home canned summer tomatoes.

I think I will try that. My mom used to get with my aunt and they would end up with made sauce that was canned, but I will try the whole canned idea.

I love my roma tomatoes so those are what I'll use.

My mom did both, and she eventually switched to the whole tomato thing exclusively. Even an experienced canner (which I considered her one) had too many instances of "sauce failure" and in general, the sauce made from the whole, canned tomatoes tasted fresher and brighter than the canned sauce.

Like you, I wish I wouldv'e paid much more attention to what my mom did. Now I'm going to have to relearn and fast.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


It's very doable. I think the trick is to keep everything absolutely clean and hot!! Sterilized jars, clean utensils, proper canning time in the boiling water and clean hands! After making jam my hands usually hurt from being exposed to hot water, but it's worth it.

And remember, you can't re-use the lids!! Someone told me they did re-use them but that could be dangerous and allow bacteria into your jars.

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
Food price insanity

Sure is... and it's likely only going to get far worse.

I also recall reports, early into the Egyptian uprising, that a great deal of tomatoes are grown in Egypt. One of the primary US consumers of the Egyptian tomatoes was Heinz. They were already experiencing interruptions in output and delivery, and I can only imagine that in the ongoing chaos, the fields are either being neglected to some degree or raided for internal use.

I was pondering the potential of massive food shortages & out of reach prices in America this morning and was struck by the ultimate of ironies. America is the fattest nation on Earth. The media, our officials, and our medical community incessantly pounds Americans over the "obesity epidemic." Funny thing about that, in the event of a food shortage would you rather have a little extra fat stored on your body or be lean as hell? A person who is 50 lbs overweight can easily and healthfully subsist for a full year on 1,000 calories a day. That's pretty much the equivalent of a few cups of cooked rice & beans. The average American would walk out of a moderate length "famine" that would likely kill a third world resident healthier than they were when it began from a BMI standpoint. Stock up on vitamins, though, because a man cannot survive on calories alone... you need those vital nutrients.

Be well.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
I was pondering the potential of massive food shortages & out of reach prices in America this morning and was struck by the ultimate of ironies. America is the fattest nation on Earth. The media, our officials, and our medical community incessantly pounds Americans over the "obesity epidemic." Funny thing about that, in the event of a food shortage would you rather have a little extra fat stored on your body or be lean as hell? A person who is 50 lbs overweight can easily and healthfully subsist for a full year on 1,000 calories a day. That's pretty much the equivalent of a few cups of cooked rice & beans. The average American would walk out of a moderate length "famine" that would likely kill a third world resident healthier than they were when it began from a BMI standpoint. Stock up on vitamins, though, because a man cannot survive on calories alone... you need those vital nutrients.

Be well.

Forgive my general ignorance on this issue, and I welcome anyone who is able to produce some proper information on the subject, but isn't there talk (or hasn't there been talk) on the FDA pushing to regulate vitamin suppliments out of existance?

Oh, and American's are fat because fast food is cheap, easy, and well... fast. The dollar menu at McDonalds is within reach of more families and more families who simply don't have the time, or the money, to shop at the grocery store and cook a healthier, more balanced meal at home. I'm not defending this or saying that it's right, but households that must contain two or more wage earners to make ends meet can't win no matter where they turn. And for those on food assistance, it seems that high-calorie, low nutrition processed foods can stretch that food stamp a lot further than fresh produce.

reply to post by larphillips


Actually, and this is rather interesting, but Americans are gaining weight for reasons other than just our like of junk food and our dislike of exercise.

We are seeing inexplicable increases in fat infants and toddlers, that arent so easy to explain away by the "its all what you consume" model.

There are a couple of interesting lines of thought on why this might be. One is "epigentics" in which it has been found that the "sins of the parents," can alter the genes passed on to their children. Some very intriguing studies have shown that both hunger/starvation and excess can alter the way the childrens genes express and lead to all sorts of thing, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

Secondly, more in line with the "you are what you eat" line of thinking, the bacteria that populates your gut can have a profound impact on your weight. So much so that mice that were genetically modified to be fat became slim after having "lean" bacteria transplanted to their guts. In some people the bacteria in your gut is just very efficient at extracting calories from the food you eat, and in others, less so.

So.........fat Americans with "fat" bacteria in their guts might do much better than slimmer people in a food crisis, not only because they have all that nice fat stored, but because they likely have the high efficiency bacteria in their guts that extracts every last calorie from food that is consumed.

Originally posted by larphillips
Forgive my general ignorance on this issue, and I welcome anyone who is able to produce some proper information on the subject, but isn't there talk (or hasn't there been talk) on the FDA pushing to regulate vitamin suppliments out of existance?

Oh, and American's are fat because fast food is cheap, easy, and well... fast. The dollar menu at McDonalds is within reach of more families and more families who simply don't have the time, or the money, to shop at the grocery store and cook a healthier, more balanced meal at home. I'm not defending this or saying that it's right, but households that must contain two or more wage earners to make ends meet can't win no matter where they turn. And for those on food assistance, it seems that high-calorie, low nutrition processed foods can stretch that food stamp a lot further than fresh produce.

I think you are thinking about the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003

I think that Bill died in Committee.

reply to post by larphillips


Yes, the vitamin regulation is a widely talked about goal of the World Health Org.

I'm won't disagree about the fast food obesity connection, though it gtoes far beyond fast food. Pretty much all commercially produced food in the grocery store is equally crappy to a Big Mac. Everything has so much HFCS, chemical bastardization of ingredients, GMO crap, and overall lack of wholesomeness that it draws in even those wise enough to avoid the fast food chains. The bottom line, though, is that body fat is body fat. A lb of body fat stores 3,500 calories worth of energy. As long as a person can consume enough calories per day to regulate their blood sugar and consume enough free nutrients (via vitamins or fresh foods), they'll come out of any food shortage in good shape.

Of course the reverse of this is the simple fact that in the short term, higher grocery store prices will likely lead even more people to eat at the cheap fast food chains or buy the mass produced packaged horse crap, which will always be cheaper than a bag of fresh produce or organic meat.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander


well we might be able to live longer because of the fat.
but that doesn't stop your stomach, from getting all pissed off and rumbling.
and if that goes on to long that sh@@ hurts.


also people have to realize that the cost of fuel has been going up again to.
this will increase the cost of production and transportion, which in turn increases
whole sale price and then retail price.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


People need to realize the price of fuel and food are only going to increase, and unless 'a miracle happens" we will never see the cheap food and fuel prices of the last 40-50 years or so.

We have hit the half way point in the worlds supply of fossil fuel, and demand is rising due to increased consumption in two huge markets, China and India. Fossil fuels do more than just transport crops from one place to another, they supply us with much of our fertilizers and pesticides too.

We are really on the verge of a world of hurt. Because while our population growth has slowed, (thank all the Gods) it has not slowed enough to keep up below carrying capacity. We are in free fall, and we think we are flying, to steal a concept from the book "Ishmael."

We long ago passed sustainable levels of human beings and consumption, and only the global "savings account" of energy has allowed us to ignore that fact. If we do not change we will face large scale starvation in this century.

Originally posted by larphillips
LOL... tomatoes are absolutely delicious and practically a staple in my daily diet.

I can't afford organic chicken. Maybe I'll put my own chicken coop next to the home garden if things get to squirrelly.

I am right there with you on the tomatoes! I eat them any way from right off the vine with a little salt, to making my own pizza sauce. You could put a good tomatoe sauce on a brick and I'd probably try to eat it!

I love chicken too, anyway it's cooked. Outside of chicken parma, I'm real partial to Perdue's oven-stuffer roasters, marinated in rhine wine and sprinkled with a couple of packets of Hidden valley ranch mix. Yummy!

Good thing the girlfriend is bringing dinner home, now I'm hungry!

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander

thats exactly right, not only is it used for fertilizer and pesticides, there are countless other products that use it.
plastic. makeup, asphalt, just to mention a few. and with the china and indian markets starting to consume as much and in the very near future will exceed the U.S. in consumption it is a very bleak out look.

I feel the whole shebang is caused by behind the scenes weather wars between the more powerful nations.
If Tomatoes are expensive then we don't purchase any......pretty simple really and we will sleep just as well as the night we could afford Tomatoes.
We feel that there is going to be food price increases for sure and for a long duration but it will be due to the stock markets, speculation and weather wars.
Think Wall street and there you go......Bob's your uncle.....unfortunately.
S&F Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by Illusionsaregrander
reply to post by larphillips

 

Actually, and this is rather interesting, but Americans are gaining weight for reasons other than just our like of junk food and our dislike of exercise.

We are seeing inexplicable increases in fat infants and toddlers, that arent so easy to explain away by the "its all what you consume" model.

There are a couple of interesting lines of thought on why this might be. One is "epigentics" in which it has been found that the "sins of the parents," can alter the genes passed on to their children. Some very intriguing studies have shown that both hunger/starvation and excess can alter the way the childrens genes express and lead to all sorts of thing, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

Secondly, more in line with the "you are what you eat" line of thinking, the bacteria that populates your gut can have a profound impact on your weight. So much so that mice that were genetically modified to be fat became slim after having "lean" bacteria transplanted to their guts. In some people the bacteria in your gut is just very efficient at extracting calories from the food you eat, and in others, less so.

So.........fat Americans with "fat" bacteria in their guts might do much better than slimmer people in a food crisis, not only because they have all that nice fat stored, but because they likely have the high efficiency bacteria in their guts that extracts every last calorie from food that is consumed.

Epigenetics....I have not heard of that until now and that theory sounds very interesting.

Now, I have something else to research!!!

Thank you.

I must not have any of that "fat" bacteria in me. I cook a real dinner nearly every night and have a hard time gaining weight. Everyone tells me to slow down and that is the reason I am slim, 6'0" tall and 165 lbs, but maybe it is the type of bacteria I am able to keep. Personally, I think it's the fresh food and good exercise I get.

For all those in small town or northern U.S.A suffering from food sticker shock, I'd suggest buying canned tomatoes until store supplies are replenished. The recent food shortage news has also increase hoarding, that has driven prices into bubble land. New produce crops from the Southwest U.S. should be hitting all the markets by the end of March, and I suspect you shall hear the pop of the food bubble by summer.

Strawberry season just started here in Arizona: 4 quarts for $5. Vine ripe tomatoes are $1.99/lb and Roma tomatoes are less than $1/lb.

Click for: Commodity Food Price Index Monthly Price

Well this latest wrinkle doesn't bode well... nor does it enstill me with much confidence for the coming years:


US farmers fear the return of the Dust Bowl
www.telegraph.co.uk...

Strange that this is a story in the UK, yet not in the US. By 'strange,' I mean that kind of in an ironic way, being a regular visitor and reader of this site.