Food Prices

Doing the weekly food shopping at the local coop on Sunday was pained, especially when I saw a small jar of organic applesauce for almost $5. Seems a little pricey for something so benign. Who knew apples were entering luxury status.

I would imagine shipping costs are the immediate cause of this particular micro-inflation. I settled for buying a bag of apples in order to make my own version of applesauce.

Surfing with the google topic - Food Prices USA - I found this article from Reuters on how rising food prices are affecting Asia.

Asia fears lost decade, unrest from food price shock

Soaring food prices may throw millions of Asians back into poverty, undo a decade of gains and stoke civil unrest, regional leaders said on Sunday as they urged a boost to agricultural production to meet rising demand.

Asia -- home to two thirds of the world's poor -- risks rising social tension as a doubling of wheat and rice prices in the last year has slammed people who spend more than half their income on food, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said during the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting.

If food prices rise 20 percent, 100 million poor people across Asia could be forced back into extreme poverty...

Bill Moyers writes about rising food prices in the USA -

Hunger in the US

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food prices rose by 4% last year, the largest increase in 17 years. And, the USDA predicts they will rise another 4% this year. Eggs are up 40% in the past year; milk up 26% a gallon; a loaf of standard bread, 20%.

All across the nation families, government agencies and food banks are feeling the pinch. So many people are in precarious straits our government figures 28 million Americans will be using food stamps this year, the highest level since the program began in the 1960s. Almost one in l0 people in Ohio get food stamps; one in eight in Michigan, and one in six West Virginians. The rising food prices make that assistance worth less and less and food banks and pantries are facing increased need and those same higher prices.