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you guys have to eat dandelions. tops make good wine

Momma told me old Italian ladies liked to pick them off the side of the Bruckner because they'd get lead in them from the car exhaust. I wouldn't be surprised if that was true!

Beignet,

I love that site but I haven't visited for awhile. Thanks for the reminder!

Yes, great site, Beignet!

And yes, Guydaley, our small community farm is now growing trout for consumption. It's pretty cool to be able to catch dinner right here on the farm! Gotta keep an eye out for otters, though!

Boneless, Skinless chicken still 1.99/lb
Milk 2.58/gallon
NY Strip - 5.99/lb

Now you can't always finds those every day, but if you shop around you can. Those prices have been the same here for me for 5 years. I do see the smaller packaging stuff creeping into some areas and there are products I just refuse to buy at the current price (cereal, bacon, some other things) but I seem to still be able to buy the staples for about the same price. Kroger ran a deal last week on all Delmonte canned vege's....50 cents a piece. How the hell do you grow it, harvest it, can it, ship it, and sell it for 50 cents a can?


Now the one I do see if gas inflation. We burn about 140 gallons of gas a month as a family here so a buck more at the pump means 140 a month less in discretionary money.

Where people are getting killed is in processed food. People really need to learn to cook.

Exactly right, Tesla. It's astonishing how little you can get by on with scratch cooking. Canning and basic food storage makes it even cheaper if you grow stuff.

Processed food in a box is not only dangerous to your wallet, it'll sicken you, too.

Kwik Meal at 46th and 6th, falafel over rice is now $6.00. It was $5.50 last week.

Can you still get a dirty water dog for a buck, Boz?

Truth-

You can't even get dirty water here for a buck.

Thought so, Mayor!

Only about a decade ago, I could get a bacon-egg-tomato on a kaiser roll and coffee for two bucks. Lunch was a couple of dogs for the same price. Guess that doesn't work anymore!

(43rd and Madison...)

Sysco earnings. These are not the inflations your looking for move along.


Here comes the earnings. Country's biggest food distributor earnings drop.

Sysco blames higher food, fuel and overhead costs for 3.8 percent profit drop
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Wall Street Journal] By Annie Gasparro and Tess Stynes - February 7, 2011 - Sysco Corp.'s (SYY) fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 3.8% as the U.S. foodservice distributor saw higher food, fuel and overhead costs.

The results fell short of analysts' expectations, sending shares down 3.7% at $28.75 in premarket trading. The stock through Friday's close was up 8.9% in the past year.

Sysco, which derives the majority of its sales from the restaurant industry, began to see revenue improve last year thanks to more consumers eating meals out. The company counts hospitals, schools and other institutions as customers, but its restaurant business took the brunt during the economic downturn.

Like other companies that deal with food, Sysco has been hit by higher food prices and faces the challenges of balancing how much of the cost can be passed on to its customers. The company said it experienced 4.5% food cost inflation in the latest quarter because of double-digit increases for meat, dairy and seafood. In the year-earlier quarter, it saw a decline of 3.5%.

For the quarter ended Jan. 1, Sysco reported a profit of $258.2 million, or 44 cents a share, down from $268.3 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest period included a benefit of 2 cents a share from corporate-owned life insurance, while the prior-year quarter included a benefit of a penny a share. Revenue increased 5.8% to $9.38 billion, mostly because of food-price inflation.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $9.47 billion.

Gross margin fell to 18.6% from 19.1% due to the higher food costs.

Operating expenses rose 5.9% on higher pension costs, as well as on higher salary and fuel expenses.

Nice post Amarshall. Thx.

Is that 4.5% inflation annulaized or 4.5% Q/Q?

They didn't blame the weather?

Tesla, I agree. Beyond the fact that it's better for you, think of the resources that go into snacks, candy, processed and ready to cook or eat foods.

Once in awhile we'll watch Unwrapped on The Food Network where they go behind the history and processes involved in making different types of food or snacks. It's not something you might think about while standing in a store trying to decide between multiple flavors of potato chips or something but listening to them talk about the quantity of ingredients mass manufacturers of foodstuffs use on a weekly or yearly basis can be mind blowing.

Dirty water dogs I haven't had for quite a while, at least a year, and then it was $2.00. I'll check tomorrow.

China will start paying more for foodstuffs so it's irrelevant whether Americans can pay or not. If I'm a farmer and Americans offer mt $5/pound for beef, and China offers me $10, who do you think I'm going to sell to?

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Boneless, Skinless chicken still 1.99/lb
Milk 2.58/gallon
NY Strip - 5.99/lb

Now you can't always finds those every day, but if you shop around you can. Those prices have been the same here for me for 5 years.

Does that mean everyone is imagining that grocery prices are going up?

CHellie... I noticed that, too. I cannot and have not been able to buy chicken for that price. I'm lucky when it goes on sale for $3.99 a pound. AND, I have to do some serious trimming of fat and pieces of bone, etc that was left on and tucked under!

I don't buy milk by the gallon (actually I don't really know how much milk is...it's a staple and I buy it) and I rarely buy a strip steak. Usually a petite sirloin when that goes on sale.

I have to learn how to buy big on meats and figure out what to do with it. For instance, when Top ROund London Broil goes on sale I'm afraid to buy lots of it because I don't know what to do with it! I recall you said you bought all of the pork shoulder somewhere. I wouldn't know what to do with it!! Got some learnin' to do!

Deep freeze. :)

ASimov... I know that much. How do I prepare it when I thaw it? I'm not talented with recipes for it. Marinate and grill - same ol' same ol.

Boz = Win. Food is not a DVD, there are no region codes on it.

Ahhh... Well, I tend to stick it in a zip lock with marinade while it's thawing. Fill the sink with water and submerge it to evacuate the air from the bag, leave it sitting in water till thawed then lay it on the counter for an hour or so for it to reach room temperature.

Then high heat broil in the oven for 5 minutes per side (depending on thickness, that's average) pouring some of the marinade over it before I put it in and then again when I flip it. (Same over a fire, sorry, don't grill but I do cook over open fire or nice hot coals when I get a chance. Timing is more dependent on heat then.)

Don't poke steaks, only flip once. Allow to rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.

I guess that's pretty much the same 'ol, but I like it. :P

Binney,

Pork shoulder goes into the BBQ pit at 220 until it hits an internal temp of 190 for pulled pork. You can also make carnitas by braising it in a dutch oven. It's an excellent cut of pork but has to be cooked slowly to break down all the connective tissue.

Chellie - that's my question to. If the price of corn and other animal feed doubles, I'd expect to see that show up in the price of all meats but I'm not seeing it "yet".

I heard that chicken prices are contracted way out and many of the growers may be eating the losses with higher food and energy prices so maybe it's just not hear yet.

I shop for groceries almost every weak. Some things are clearly seasonal like strawberries. They will be 1.99 one week, and 5 bucks a month later but for the nonseasonal stuff, I'm not seeing the price inflation here (in GA).

Take your pick of the reasons:
1) We don't have much inflation in prices
2) The increase has not arrived yet
3) It's being eaten in the form of margins

Try this. Go to Kroger.com, select weekly adds, and enter an Atlanta zip code (30022). You can see the prices I'm talking about and compare to what you see. You can do the exact same thing on publix.com.

I track my expenses in quicken by category and I just simply don't see the inflation. Now I do substitute and I won't pay up if it's not on sale so maybe I'm more open/frugal but that's my take. Like I said, I have stopped buying cereal and bacon as I think they are priced in stupid land.

Any beef with the name round in it can be chunked and made into stews, stroganoffs, etc. If you cook it a while, it'll be just as tender as you need it to be.

I always buy the cheap round cuts for those type dishes.

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Pork shoulder goes into the BBQ pit at 220 until it hits an internal temp of 190 for pulled pork. You can also make carnitas by braising it in a dutch oven. It's an excellent cut of pork but has to be cooked slowly to break down all the connective tissue.

Yup, works great in a Crockpot too. I put one of the roasts in last night and we're just about to have us some carnitas for dinner. Nom.
Shoulder roast, a few shakes of vinegar, a few shakes of Worcestershire, few shakes of liquid smoke, salt & pepper, little bit of red pepper flake. Towards the end I add just a little bit of ketchup (maybe 1/2 T for a 5lb roast) and baste the meat to get a nice crust.

Binney, if you're ever not sure what to do with hunks of meat, just ask here! There are a lot of damn good cooks on TF!

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I track my expenses in quicken by category and I just simply don't see the inflation. Now I do substitute and I won't pay up if it's not on sale so maybe I'm more open/frugal but that's my take. Like I said, I have stopped buying cereal and bacon as I think they are priced in stupid land.

I also track my expenses, and I daresay I'm a bit more frugal than you are. ;) I keep my total cash outlay for everything (groceries & household) under $100/month for 2 adults AND heavy stockpiling.

I used to only buy cereal if I could get it for under $.99 per box. The last month or two I jump on a $.99/box sale because, as you said, it's going further and further into stupid land.
I haven't been able to find coffee for under $1/lb in many months. My stockpile of coffee is dangerously low and I'm starting to panic.
I can get boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99lb on sale, but those are almost always the IQF grocery brand that have been plumped with added saline. Just plain chicken with nothing added? Yeah, uh, those have been on sale here for the $1.99 range once in the past couple months. I do have access to a local butcher shop and they send out monthly coupons which keeps their prices competitive, and their quality is great, but it's really hit or miss what they'll have on sale.
Rice keeps going up and up and up. I've been fortunate to be able to get a bunch recently for free to $.20lb. Beans & rice used to be a cheap, healthy meal; it's not so cheap anymore.

Hell, don't take my word for it. Look at the link Beignet posted on page 4:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40doll....
That started as a $40/week menu for 4-6 people. Then it was $45/week. As of 2009 it's $70/week and the only meat is hot dogs and canned tuna.

I'm glad you don't notice the food inflation. Unfortunately, poor folks see it and they're starting to riot over it.

Flank or cube steak for chicken-fried steak too. I need to learn me some of that, especially with low-carb breading.