Food Related News Stories

I heard an interesting radio news report from MarketPlace.org this morning.

Apparently the rise in energy and food prices is putting the squeeze on small food vendors and even the big guys are looking for ways to cut corners on production costs.

How that will affect the consumer is yet to be seen, but it can't be a positive.

Here's the audio and the news story:

Secret ingredient? A cheaper substitute

Tags: food-news, food-prices, marketplace

Attachments:

marketplace_morning_report0850_20080509_64.mp3, 3.6 MB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Katie on May 9, 2008 at 8:58pm

I have been hearing about food prices as well. Who knows where it will end. I do think part of the problem is the fact that our farmland is being turned into housing and shops - this needs to come to an end or we will be importing all of our food supply - and at what cost?

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Permalink Reply by Bryce on May 11, 2008 at 5:46pm

What bothers me most is that prices never seem to go back down again after the crisis is over. My grocery bills are easily up 40% from where they were a year ago. My Wife and I have started gardening - and believe it or not I am actually getting my hunting licenses this year.

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Permalink Reply by Jill McKeever on May 18, 2008 at 7:06am

We are seeing so much Texas agricultural land flipping over into housing and cookie cutter strip malls. How many Chik-Filets, Lowe's, and Starbucks do we REALLY need across the highway from our old Home Depots, Chili's, and Super-Walmarts?

Even my eight year old is saying, "I remember when that piece of land over there was just a field."

Where does all our food come from these days? It wouldn't hurt us to rediscover our roots.
We should be asking Grandma how to put up our garden treasures, before Grandma's generation is gone. There's a wealth of information to gain from her about living through tight times.

Bryce, I'm with you. I don't have the space to garden enough food to last my family through a winter. But I do know of a great site LocalHarvest.org that puts us in touch with family farms growing to provide for their families and ours. They have a huge database set up for farmers to promote and sell what they harvest- from vegetable growers, dairy farms, cheese makers, etc.

It's a fantastic site, very well organized, and kept up to date.

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Permalink Reply by Katie on May 18, 2008 at 6:03pm

That is what I was saying - this urban sprawl is getting way out of hand. That has to be one reason for the housing problem. Big business seems to be looking out for no one but big business. There is no thought except for the almighty dollar and the payback today. There aren't that many people who are looking out for what is being taken away - our farmland and one of our resources - land.

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Permalink Reply by Charles McKeever on May 21, 2008 at 7:00am

Hey gang. I agree there is definitely an issue with cutter community development, but I think the issue really goes far beyond the number of corner Starbucks. China is experiencing explosive growth and they are changing their eating habits to match their status. This means there is an extra demand for grains to feed additional live stock. Plus we are now converting grains into fuels which is driving up demand and prices. The problem with that process has become immediately obvious and long term it doesn't do anything to address the worlds levels of energy consumption. We are in a time of great energy consumption by electronic products and we have not added any real solutions for producing energy to match our demands. It is going to take a serious movement to change our perspectives on energy demands to make a real difference.

Here is an article that discusses the issue on a broad scale:
Why your grocery bill is about to hurt

I've also attached an audio version below of the article in case you want to listen.

Attachments: