U.S. Food Inflation Worst in 17 Years

FOX ^

[Sub-Driver]

U.S. Food Inflation Worst in 17 Years

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.

He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors -- dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.

The owner of Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies in Brooklyn said he didn't want customers thinking he was "jacking up prices because I have a unique product."

"I have to justify it," he said.

The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it's getting worse. That's putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.

U.S. food prices rose 4% in 2007, compared with an average 2.5% annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5%.

[Sub-Driver]

Is all Pelosi's fault!

[Flavius]

well what the heck

there is your obesity cure

not to mention

we should have gone for 20 year low

this odd numbers are just lame

however adjusted for inflation food is actually free

[goldstategop]

Its going to get worse before it gets better. Food prices haven't risen as much here as elsewhere or else we'd be seeing riots in the streets and shaken governments trying to keep a lid on food related unrest.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[1rudeboy]

How can this be? I thought the government doesn’t keep track of food price inflation.

[Lazamataz]

Ramen noodles are up from 13 cents to 15 cents a package.

I guess I'll simply go without.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

This is the result of new federal programs desighned to optimize your life. The feds want to reduce your likelihood of obesity by quadrupling food prices, reduce your chances of being in a car accident by quadrupling gas prices, etc.

[blam]

My favorite tortilla corn chips went up by 17% last week.

Eat now while you still can.

[TomGuy]

U.S. food prices rose 4% in 2007

That percentage will be much higher for 2008, and significant higher if gasoline gets near the predicted $4.00 per gallon.

Transportation costs will be added on to raw materials and to processed goods.

Many common food items have already increased double-digit percentages over what they were a year ago.

For example locally, the price of a box of crackers has jumped from $0.69 last fall to $0.99 this spring to $1.25 last week. The price of a jar of peanuts went from $1.99 to $2.15 to $2.49.

Those kinds of increases are actual and are substantially more than the 4% or so being reported.

[EBH]

WASHINGTON -- The president of the World Bank has called for immediate action to deal with mounting food prices that have caused deadly violence in several countries. Robert Zoellick says the international community has to put its money where its mouth is and act now to help hungry people. He is urging governments to rapidly carry out commitments to provide the U.N. World Food Program with $500 million in emergency aid it needs by May 1. Zoellick said Sunday after a meeting of the bank's policy-setting committee that the fall of the government in Haiti over the weekend after a wave of deadly rioting and looting over food prices underscores the importance of quick international action.

It is not just the US Food Prices. This is the direct result of cyclical fluctuations of the standard food supply and increased population demands. Mother Nature will take care of the population problem through natural means. /sarc.

[TomGuy]

How can this be? I thought the government doesn’t keep track of food price inflation.

They have all kinds of reports. It depends on which report is being used for what purpose.

[1rudeboy]

I know that . . . a few people here do not.

[LomanBill]

>>I guess I’ll simply go without.

You could always eat cake... oh, wait...

[corkoman]

heat waves in Europe and California

What? Oh yeah - global warming made me do it.

Euroland is frikken feeezin - its April and cold as anything all over.

[goldstategop]

Most countries have zero population growth. In the long run, we will get relief from higher food prices. But that doesn't solve the current food shortage and the resultant number of mouths around that have to be fed now.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[EBH]

In 2008, the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone: For the first time in history, more than half its human population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of cities in developing countries, the future of humanity itself, all depend very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth.

While the world’s urban population grew very rapidly (from 220 million to 2.8 billion) over the 20th century, the next few decades will see an unprecedented scale of urban growth in the developing world. This will be particularly notable in Africa and Asia where the urban population will double between 2000 and 2030: That is, the accumulated urban growth of these two regions during the whole span of history will be duplicated in a single generation. By 2030, the towns and cities of the developing world will make up 81 per cent of urban humanity.

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2007/english/introduction.html

[LomanBill]

>>I thought the government doesn’t
>>keep track of food price inflation.

What’s the chocolate ration going to be for next month?

[Toddsterpatriot]

Silly, you probably think the trade deficit and budget deficit are different.

[Pistolshot]

Prices for us and our budget have reached the limit. Where we once had a surplus to use for dining out every other week or so, we now have to use that for gas or food. aAnd pay is not keeping up with it.

[tbw2]

That conspiracy actually has logic. Manipulate the market into manipulating people into doing the “right” thing.

[LomanBill]

>>By 2030, the towns and cities of the developing
>>world will make up 81 per cent of urban humanity.

Baghdad on steroids. Lovely. I wonder which sect of Islamofascism will predominate.