Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I am totally noticing it. Mostly with fruits and vegetables. Admittedly, in living in Manhattan, prices are going to be higher anyhow, but it's getting ridiculous. Supermarkets and Fresh Direct cost a fortune. As example, a head of cabbage via Fresh Direct this week cost me $6.02. That's right. A head of cabbage! You know? The vegetable of the thrifty? SIX dollars! Corner fruit and vegetable stands are cheaper, but the quality is often questionable, at least in my neighborhood. We have a farmer's market by my office, and their apples are much cheaper than the supermarket/FD, but everything else is way more expensive. It's frustrating. I'm eating a dinner of broccoli and rice, with a pear and apple for dessert and it costs five bucks. Which is less than some McDonald's combo meals. And which is why I totally understand why so many lower income people end up eating so much darned fast food.

Meat prices are also noticeably higher. I don't eat that much meat though, so it's not quite as compelling an issue for me.

Urgh. Sorry, Jamie, but first I must say that the link to the blog you listed with the photos, which does not give proper credit to the author and photographer who wrote and published the book kind of freaks me out. "It might have come from the BBC" was the comment as to the origin. Not good enough.

Credit where credit is due, please. Particularly when the book is one that should be fairly well-known to those discussing food culture if they are presenting themselves as knowing what they are talking about.

Here is a link to a NPR story on the book . I believe there was also a Newsweek story around that time, and a BBC online article. Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio wrote and photographed the book.

End of rant.

As far as your question goes, yes. I have seen a difference in my weekly grocery bill lately. I've heard that not only the cost of agricultural commodities but the cost of crude oil is affecting the costs of food and that it is not something we can expect to see change soon.

My weekly budget for groceries has doubled in the last four months and it is an across the board increase. Thankfully, I haven't seen a huge increase in the cost of my bread flours, yet...

We also - in a Dallas exurb - have noticed the push higher (maybe exacerbated by the period post-influx of big box stores and closing of grocery stores). This is a small anecdote, but last night the husband voted for Thai and I insisted I'd make curry, something we ate during our lean years because of the cost/quantity. In short, I spent more than we would have spent doing carry out because of the increased cost of things like fresh vegetables and meat products. We've almost stopped eating beef, and the days when organic bananas were affordable are long gone. When we moved here from Chicago, everything seemed so cheap - I can't imagine city costs now.

Any commodity the government subsidizes to burn as fuel, (or for any reason), is going to go up in price, and the increase is going to show up in realted commidities and other products sooner or later.

I wish we could find a way to render politicians and beauracrats into fuel? I'd gladly pay higher prices in exchange for that!

if we paid the costs of the growth and preparation of food, we would see some major changes in how we eat. Corporate America has a concept called unit budgeting and as much as I hate corp america, if we applied the concept to the food we eat and how it gets to us, we would pay a lot more, and eat a lot less.

Yes I have noticed it... but food here in Puerto Rico is usually more expensive than it is in the US, sometimes even Manhattan, and without the variety. Everything needs to be shipped in - with the exception for local produce - certain tubers, vegetables and fruits. I just paid last week $8 for a pound of strawberries. I almost left them at the register.

It's amazing how choosing to eat healthier and more naturally also increases your food bill. The more natural it is, the more expensive it is. How come??? Don't all those chemicals cost money to produce???

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

Any item that is not seasonal will be carrying a higher price tag, simply because of the transportation costs and, if used, fertilizers manufactured with petro-chemical products. Locally grown items here remain fair in price, cilantro 3 bunches @ $ 0.99, green and red leafed lettuce $0.88 per head, cabbage $0.25 per pound, olio neuvo (EVOO) $24/liter. These are super market prices and the farmers markets will be in the same range, +/- depending on the season/product. Located on the central coast of california.

my husband and I have certainly noticed it, even here in rural western Michigan. we visit our local Spartan Store, and shop the perimeter (you know, produce, bread, meat, dairy, avoiding the processed food like the plague). our food costs have probably gone up 10-15% in the last 6 months, and my income sure hasn't gone up that much!

which means we: buy less meat and dairy, but more potatoes, onions, beans, rice and pasta. When we do buy meat, it's the larger cuts from the butcher's counter, not the pre-packaged pre-cut stuff. If the farmer's market is open, I'm there. if it's U-pick season at any of the local farms, i'm there. if i can make it from scratch at home, I do. i grow as many veggies and herbs in my home garden as I can, as well.

skyrocketting food prices are turning me into a locavore.

Yes, I am definitely affected. I've never been one to mind paying more for quality, but my limits are being tested. There are fewer fresh veggies in my house, and I put serious thought into whether it makes financial sense to try out that new recipe. It's depressing.