Skyrocketing Food Prices
If you think food prices are out of control, you are right! And watch out...it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. The rise in food prices is the highest rise in 28 years!
Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that this year's increase in the price of cereals, baked goods, sweets and poultry will be higher than it expected a month ago because of sharply accelerating costs for grain and fuel.
USDA predicts that the price of cereals and baked goods will rise 9 to 10 percent in 2008 -- the greatest increase since 1980. Retailers are passing higher food prices to consumers as “global demand boosts U.S. exports, production is disrupted by harsh weather and more crops are used to make fuel,” according to USDA.
The food price inflation estimate -- up from the 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent given in May -- doesn't reflect flood damage in the Midwest where it is estimated that 4 million acres of cropland have been damaged. Corn prices have surged more than 20 percent in the last two weeks, approaching an unprecedented $8 a bushel midweek, as massive flooding engulfed corn and soybean fields in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Floodwaters also disrupt shipping on the Mississippi River, the most significant means for transporting grain in the United States.
What are you doing about the rising cost of food?Click here for tips on how to spend wisely at the grocery store.
Labels: food costs, Tara Gidus
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