With budgets tightening across all economic strata in this country, many families are selectively bypassing organics to save money, according to the New York Times' Andrew Martin. The question that I find even more pressing is whether people are going to stop shopping at farmers' markets across the country, which are generally more expensive than both conventional and organic supermarkets. What are serious eaters everywhere doing to save money? Are organically and/or locally grown produce still important to you? As Martin put it, are consumers going to decide they can no longer afford to let their conscience dictate their shopping list? I for one will not stop supporting my local farmers. I have always felt that local and sustainable... More

©iStockphoto.com/fotofrog The San Francisco Chronicle surveyed 30 Bay Area food shoppers to see how many actually knew their monthly food expenditures. While many wing it, throwing out random estimates, others could quantify to an exact dollar amount. My favorite part is when one woman munched on her "CCOF Certified Organic Shinko Asian Pear" for $1.45. While logging the steep price in her records, she listened to a report on credit default swaps. Which category do you fall under? The "wing it" or the "tally up receipts" crowd?... More

Photograph from Consumerist At the grocery store, the purchasing power of our dollars isn't the only thing that's shrinking. Manufacturers are quietly downsizing the quantities in packaged food, often while holding prices steady, all in response to the rise in commodity and fuel costs. A few examples: Kellogg's cereals have an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per boxTropicana orange juice containers decreased from 96 ounces to 89 ouncesWrigley's 17-stick PlenTPak has been replaced by the 15-stick Slim PackSpreads (butter, mayo) and ice cream containers have decreased in size overall The story, in Time magazine, says that people are more sensitive to price than they are quantity, which explains why manufacturers are trying to slip the changes by us. "Most... More