Perhaps it is coincidence or perhaps it is the Lord leading the way for our family, but it just so happens that we have been really purposeful for saving money on food since March. Then today, I read that prices for food went up in that same month, with the biggest surge in price in 26 years! And here we thought everything was recovering.
AP news reports that food prices jumped 2.4 percent over last month (this is the most since January of 1984) and vegetables jumped a whopping 49 percent! Perhaps this will convince my husband to help me put in a garden. You can check out the article in Yahoo Finance.
Increases for food prices are blamed by a cold snap in Florida and rising fuel prices. Economic analysts are warning that with manufactures reluctant to pass on too much of a price hike at once, food prices could jump even higher later in the year.
It is important to note that the experts don’t feel as though this will greatly affect inflation. With the exception of food and energy costs, core consumer prices did not rise significantly.
So what does this mean for us? As usual, we should be vigilant about getting the best prices on food, using sales and coupons. When an expensive item, such as meat goes on sale, we should stock up and practice freezer cooking. Meal planning comes into play here, too. Finally, consuming produce when it is at the lowest cost, eating to the sales, is a good idea. So if strawberries are on sale, choose that as your fruit until something else becomes a better bargain. Watch the amount of food, especially produce that gets wasted, and only buy what you can consume or easily store.