No kidding. That really takes the (rice) cake.

Rice has gone up $1-2 here for the 20-25 lb. bags at Target and Costco.

Jota,

CVS had Bustelo a couple of weeks ago - around $3.00 bag

Home-made spaghetti last weekend:
1 lb ground beef + 1 lb ground pork for the meatballs
1 medium yellow onion
4 vine ripe tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 bunch fresh basil
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley
1 bunch fresh oregano
1 garlic bulb
1 loaf of crusty bread
1 pack of dried spaghetti

$35!

A year ago it wasn't more than $20.

No doubt resistance, my biggest personal pet peeve over the past few yrs has been people in a position of authority claiming that the poor "had" to eat at McDonalds because it was cheaper, so I started keeping very close track of healthy meal costs. (I didn't track oven costs etc., but I've seen sites that include those costs of home cooking as well)

even now it's still cheaper to make your family's dinner... your great spag recipe is still way healthier than McDonalds, but it's so sad that NOW, for a family of 5, it pretty much breaks even with a reasonable meal at Mcdonalds.

I'm still averaging a quality family meal that could feed 5 for $20 (always quality meat, veg, starch side, milk) but it used to be around $10-$15 with strategic buying/stockpiling at very low prices. The new key will definitely be stocking up on meats... I actually just bought a lot of very lean beef from the butcher at 2.97/lb, in the past I would have continued to cook out of the freezer until they put a real sale on ground beef. My high for sirloin used to be 1.99/lb, I'm now coming to the conclusion that 3.99/lb will be a stock up price.

What really bums me out is those who aren't stocking up, are probably paying 4-5/lb for lean beef and 8-9/lb for sirloin... especially if their money is already tight.

The lowest priced food has been subsidized in the USA. The fact that price is rising should not be any new invention. It was unsustainable to begin with.

I buy a half a steer once a year - $2.52 a lb last year. Grass fed...and grass (the non-smoking type) doesn't seem to be getting more expensive I stock up on boneless chicken boobs at 1.79/lb Then I buy ham around Easter and Xmas when it's ~1.29/lb and turkey at Thanksgiving for .25/lb and I'm pretty much covered for meat. I get my fish locally from the docks. I grow my own veggies - last year I grew 480 lbs of tomatoes, which I canned, 110 lbs of potatoes, 39 lbs of beans - green and dried, 42 lbs of onions and garlic, 8 lbs of pesto, 20 qts of raspberries, hops for the beer, 32 lbs of grapes, 12 lbs of cherries, and 12 bushels of apples, pears, nectarines and peaches. Add in peppers, summer squash, spaghetti squash, and herbs..the corn failed. I had 2 almonds from my almond trees, more to come next year I hope.

I planted 6 more apple trees, 2 plums, 1 fig, 2 banana, 3 paw paw, 1 crabapple, and a couple of beach plum and cherry bushes this fall. I now have 28 chickens and 11 ducks, which will all be laying eggs by spring. I have lemon, lime, grapefruit, olive, and bay trees in my sunroom. My greenhouse will be finished this spring and will be heated by passive solar.

As far as food goes, I'm set. What little I buy - wheat, milk, coffee and things like sugar and salt - I'll just have to either pay or do without.

My next push is cutting way back on my use of electricity, but not by installing expensive solar.

Tesla you're living my dream life and your TF name references one of my favorite old school bands... give me back my identity! :)

We're up to 7 fruit bearing trees, a nice little vineyard, and approx 700 square ft of raised gardens, assuming my math is good this time of night, we have 7 raised beds.

Not a single chicken, which seriously bums me out, despite the fact that I know I'd see them as pets and not want to eat them or their "young," lol... I guess I just like the idea that I COULD eat them and their eggs if it became necessary... :)

Pumped gas over $3.50 today!

Here's how they're hiding the sausage...

From the February issue of Consumer Reports:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magaz....

Haagan Daz was 16 oz now 14 oz
Tropicana orange juice was 64 oz. now 59 oz.
Ivory dish detergent was 30 oz. now 24 oz.
Kraft American cheese was 24 slices now 22
Scott toilet tissue was 115.2 sq. ft. now 104.8 sq. ft.
Chicken of the Sea salmon was 3 oz. now 2.6 oz.

Yep, everything is shrinking. Take a look at your deodorant container. Very little product. I also saw a ream of paper at Target last week that had only 400 sheets! A ream of paper has always been 500 sheets.

Last similar commodity price spike was oil in 2008. Economy sustained it for about 6-9 months before all hell broke loose.

Here's fresh proof that the original post is correct. From today's Detroit News:

Quote:

Costs drive up Kellogg's prices

Broad 3% average increase spurred by spike in commodities

The Detroit News

Kellogg Co. will raise prices on its breakfast and frozen foods this year as it continues to grapple with higher commodity costs and slow sales.

The world's largest cereal maker made the announcement Thursday as it reported that its profit increased 3 percent to $1.2 billion in 2010, even as annual revenue dropped 1 percent to $12.4 billion. The Battle Creek-based company's quarterly profit rose 7 percent partly because the company raised prices to offset increased grain costs.

Because commodity prices have continued to rise in the new year, the company plans more price hikes. Prices across categories will rise about 3 percent on average, said John Bryant, who became Kellogg's chief executive last month.

"These price increases are merely passing on a portion of those higher costs," Bryant told The Detroit News on Thursday.

The maker of Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts, Eggo waffles and other foods said 2010 was the first disappointing sales year since 2000. The company faced multiple food recalls and robust competition from other packaged food manufacturers, Bryant said.

snip

Quote:

and slow sales.

That's amazing because...if they're packaging a lesser amount of food, you'd think they'd be having to sell more to remain the same as prior years. In reality, all they're doing is cannibalizing their sales as people buy other brands, no names, or do without.

Sorry Tj, you can't have my name...I was here first A few of my chickens have become pets primarily due to circumstances. They were picked on by the old biddies and had to live inside (yes, house chickens! very smelly if you don't change the paper a few times a day) for a couple of weeks. Thus they became very friendly and remain so even when I reintegrated them into the flock. I'll post a pic of my favorite. However, having them as pets doesn't preclude my enjoying their eggs. Yum. I have a few who are old enough to have stopped producing so I'm thinking of turning them into stewing pot accessories in the next month. They eat too much for no return. Everybody has to produce around here to earn their place.

My ol' Dad complains that with all the smaller packaging you have to haul 30% more boxes of cereal home to get the same amount. He says it ought to be good for the box-makers.

How about f-ing Kraft Real mayo now in a 15 oz plastic jar rather than 16 oz glass. The plastic jar has a huge depression molded in the base so there is a big ****** hollow space under the bottom with no product. After 40 years buying the Kraft brand, have switched to a reqional brand that still gives 16 oz of the same money, or less.

You got to watch the specials and stock up. Our Kroger now has Hunt's tomato sauce in 15 oz cans for 49 cents if you buy 10. usually 99c. Stock Up.It'll keep.

I noticed the inflation in chocolate while Christmas shopping in December. I always put into my sister's stocking a couple of those big Hersheys Dark Chocolate bars. They were $1.79 a year ago; this year I paid $2.39. If my calculations are right, that is about 33% year-over-year inflation.

I'm not going to buy any more cereal for a while if the prices go up. They have already reduced the size of the boxes so the small boxes are now only about one inch thick! AND THEY RAISED PRICES SHORTLY AFTER THEY REDUCED THE SIZE OF THE BOX!!! PATHETIC!

Most of it is sugar anyway.

They can keep it. I'll just feed the kids more eggs.

Quote:

They can keep it. I'll just feed the kids more eggs.

Eggs are still a very good buy, in my opinion. Even the organic ones in Whole Foods are relatively cheap.

Why would you ever buy boxed cereal ? All you're buying is hype(advertising), cardboard and colored ink.

Buy rolled oats, still the cheapest breakfast on the planet. After that, grits. Or try homemade bread french toast and homemade blueberry syrup. Fried tomatoes and sausage. Rice pudding with strawberries or raspberries...

Healthy, no additives, no chemicals, real food.

PBJ on wheat for breakfast is really cheap, and keeps me going all morning.

Tesla,

Quote:

They eat too much for no return. Everybody has to produce around here to earn their place.

Soooo - when do you eat your parents/grandparents?!?!?!?
/Sarc

By the way, come the SHTF scenario, you will be much more in danger than folks who stocked up with PMs.... Hope you also have some good Pb delivery systems, good fields of fire, and a lot of relatives to help you defend your stake....

My parents contribute...they are put to work in the garden or with the honey-do list when they come to visit

I have several lead delivery systems of varying sizes and their supply, but more importantly, I have a rule. If someone wants to steal the food from my trees/garden they can, but take one step inside the house or barns and they're dead because then they're coming after me and mine. I don't have a compound, but I do have awake, aware, and capable neighbors on all sides who are all proficient with shooting running things.

In years gone by I had a supply of Hoffman devices which I used to blow up groundhogs. If I still had any I'd have a great way to set up a warning system

BTW when you posted Pb, my first brain wave said "peanut butter"

Quote:

If this continues at the same pace, this summer should see a lot more defaults beginning on all forms of debt, as people make the choice between paying bills and eating.

If it continues at this pace, those commodities will implode themselves either through demand destruction or if some sort of news event leads people to take the risk trade off - that would be very bearish for commodities and equities and probably very bullish for Treasuries and the dollar.

That's what should crack this market eventually, but trying to guess when is impossible. It'll start with a sharp pullback everybody calls a correction and a buying opportunity.

$21.90 for my weekly rib eye. It was was 1.37 lb behemoth though...

Tesla,

I agree on boxed cereal, but there's no changin' the old man at 95. He lives off of cereal both rolled oats and his boxed favorites. He's half blind but reads the WSJ with a magnifier each day. His stock picking is pretty good (VZ, T, IBM) such that he has plenty of dough to buy cereal with.

seven8n2