Lately the news media have been abuzz with reports of rising cheese prices, and the effect this is having on the nation’s pizzerias. Cheese is the most expensive ingredient that goes into making pizza, so the reported 55 percent price increases this year have surely given pizza joints a run for their money. Pizza Hut and Papa Johns have both raised the prices of their plain pizzas to match those of their one-topping pizzas. Some have blamed the price increases on the rising costs of cattle feed, costs that in turn have been propelled by higher demand for corn in the production of ethanol fuel. Unfortunately this will all come to a head at some point in the future because...
Continue reading »
The uptick in grocery prices in the first six months of 2007 is greater than that for all of 2006. "There's a ... combination of higher demand, natural disasters, higher energy prices—just a myriad of factors driving what price increases we're seeing across the food sector," says Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development in Ames, Iowa. The biggest factor is the conversion of feed corn into ethanol, but labor shortages in the fruit and produce sector and a paltry winter wheat crop are also keeping your wallet thin. Photograph from iboy_daniel on Flickr...
Continue reading »
According to the New York Times, lobster prices have nearly doubled in the past year, thanks to a "confluence of bad weather, extremely cold water, and a lack of reserve supply." Some current New England restaurant lobster prices: Anthony's Pier 4 (Boston): $112 for a 3.5-pound lobsterUnion Oyster House (Boston): $47.95 for a 2-pound lobsterWarren's Lobster House (Kittery, Maine): $28.95 for a 1-pounder According to the owner of Warren's, "We thought we might have to change our name to Warren's Chicken House or something."...
Continue reading »
