MY VIEW 7.13.08

Submitted by admin on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 19:17

Most people don’t need headlines to tell them that food prices are at record highs.

If you’ve recently taken a trip to your local grocery store, you have noticed the high prices of fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products. If my memory serves me right, they’re significantly higher than they were at this time last year.

Rising fuel costs can’t shoulder all blame, but it sure does play a major role in the situation. 

The price of oil hit record highs in January, with world oil prices just a few dollars shy of $100 a barrel. This caused energy costs, such as gasoline, to shoot up to a national average of over $3 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The record high food prices are not only affecting the average consumer waiting in line at the grocery store, but are also making school nutrition programs, charities and nonprofit organizations feel the pinch as well.

While prices in the immediate future continue to climb, history has a way of repeating itself. Like many times before, it has been proven that the markets will adjust and prices will stabilize eventually.

Over time, food manufacturers and producers always find ways of increasing efficiency or changing product formulas to limit the impact of high prices. 

In the meantime, school nutrition programs, consumers like you and I, and other food organizations will continue to face financial challenges.

But until then, we all just need to learn to adopt a no-nonsense approach when shopping. We need to buy cheaper store-brand products, avoid costly cuts of meat, consolidate trips, clip coupons, make and, very importantly, follow a shopping list and try to avoid splurging as much as possible.

We are all comparing prices at the pump, so I took it upon myself to do a little research. I found these two websites that can help us stay on top of things.

To find the less expensive gas nearest you, go to www.gasbuddy.com or www.fueleconomy.gov and as simple as typing in your zip code you can locate the cheapest gas station in your area.