Food prices increased at a compound annual rate of nearly 5 percent [2] over a three-month period ending in February, and nearly every staple ingredient has experienced significant increases: eggs are about 38 percent more per dozen, and loaves of bread cost about 19 percent more. The issue seems so complicated; part of the increase is because investors are suddenly interested in commodities like wheat, corn and soy, which is driving up the prices of these goods, while an increase in ethanol use is also diverting agricultural yields away from the food supply chain. The decrease of available corn and wheat crops means it's more expensive to raise animals that eat them, such as chickens and turkeys. What's more, increasing oil prices mean production and transportation of food items costs more.
All of this means I'm forced to pay $6.00 a gallon for organic [2] whole milk for my toddler, my weekly grocery bills are through the roof, and my work as a recipe developer is netting me less profit.
But even if you're already fairly frugal when it comes to food shopping, there are changes you can make to your grocery-shopping habits to minimize the impact of new higher prices. Here are a few ideas.
- Decide What's Important. If drinking organic milk, buying fair-trade coffee, or indulging in a weekly purchase of fancy artisanal cheese is important to you, then don't beat yourself up about the expense. Instead, find other areas in which to cut costs—maybe the store brand of canned tomatoes will be just as good, or you can drink water or tea at breakfast instead of pricey orange juice.
- Join a Warehouse Club. It requires an investment (usually around $50 a year) up front, but warehouse clubs like Costco can save you money in the long run, as long as you shop wisely and use everything you buy. I find [2] that Costco has many organic brands that I like, such as Kashi cereals and Stonyfield Farms yogurts. If you have a vacuum sealer, you can portion out big purchases of freezable items, such as fish fillets or ground turkey.
- Buy in Bulk at a Natural Food Store. With reports of rice shortages [3] and flour shortages in some parts of the country, these staples are sure to continue to skyrocket in price. Invest in a sturdy set of plastic or glass canisters and buy your flour, oats, rices, and other staples at your local natural food store. You'll save money and conserve resources otherwise wasted on packging and extra transportation and production costs. In particular, I find buying a big bag of rolled oats is less than $2, significantly less than I would pay for one of those cylindrical tubs of Quaker Oats.
- Clip Coupons. I often have the best intentions when it comes to coupons, I'll diligently save them in a drawer in my kitchen... and then promptly forget them until 6 months later, when they've long expired. But all of those $0.50 discounts add up, so I'm going to start sifting through my coupon drawer before every shopping visit. The trick is to only clip coupons for brands and products you'd buy anyway. Otherwise those coupons are likely to end up costing you more than they're saving.
- Plan Ahead. I try to spend a little time every weekend planning out my family's meals and making up a shopping list. I'll go through the refrigerator and freezer to see if there are any leftovers or frozen ingredients I can incorporate into a meal or two, and I'll also try to buy ingredients that can be used in both meals, or that can make a larger quantity that I can freeze for a meal later in the month, or to eat as leftovers at lunchtime. Careful planning will cut down on the every-other-day trip to the grocery store that can often become a habit, and you can also give yourself time to think of less-expensive meals you can prepare, rather than wasting money on expensive prepared foods or take-out.
What are some ways that you keep your food budget in check?
Image Courtesy bcmom [4].