Expensive groceries

Looks like groceries are going to be expensive for a while. Yahoo did a story about the rising price of groceries, and predicted that the trend would continue for two more years:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104978/Food-Price-Rise-Coul...

"Experts say an increase in global food consumption combined with increasing use of crops such as corn and soybeans for alternative fuel production are partly to blame. Agricultural economists who've studied food price fluctuations cite historical trends that show run-ups in farm commodity prices typically happen in five-year cycles."

The reasons the prices have gone up, it says, are:

• Growing incomes in developing countries such as China, India and Malaysia mean people in these countries are eating better and more frequently.
• Adverse weather patterns over the past four years have harmed crop production in Australia, southern Europe, Ukraine and even parts of the United States.
• The United States is normally a big food surplus nation but, with the dollar weakening, excess production is going overseas and pushing our prices up.
• Burgeoning demand in the European Union and the United States for ethanol and other biofuels has sparked a price surge in corn, soybeans, sugarcane and other commodities used to produce those alternative fuels.

It's been a real pinch, and it's only compounded locally by increases in the price of gas/diesel. If delivery costs are higher, that will be passed on to the consumer in the base price of food in the store.

... having said that, let me brag on my family for a minute. Even with the higher prices, we've managed to cut our overall grocery cost significantly in the last two or three years, mainly because of lifestyle changes. In late 2005, I completely changed my eating habits, choosing mainly to stick to the food pyramid. And for the most part, I have stuck to it. And a few months ago, hubby made the same decision.

Which means, we don't buy things like frozen pizza, ice cream, soft drinks or cookies. Fruit, fresh vegetables and bottled water cost a lot less than say, a bag of chips, fish sticks and a six-pack of Coke. We're spending less and eating better, even with prices going up.

We're not looking forward to continued high food cost. But it's manageable if you watch what you're doing. Maybe the money we're saving at the grocery store will help offset the cost of our commutes every day.