Beer, pizza, food prices rising -- a whole lot. ... WHAT DO YOU SAY?

[Bozita]

A decade ago, I ran into a guy in a food specialty (huge wine selection) store. He was a Ford employee recently returned from a long-term assignment in Brazil. He told me that the Brazilian govt uses its leverage to insure a low price for beer. "Keeping the workers happy" is the way he put it.

Maybe the Brazilian govt understands something our Decider-in-Chief doesn't.

Consider this a shoutout to all pizza-eating, beer-drinking Americans.


http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9001791
Consumers paying more at the grocery store
Published 06/23/2007 By Kevin Castle

It's costing more these days to fill up both the car and the grocery cart.

A Consumer Price Index (CPI) report issued last week shows a 3.9 percent increase in food prices for May, the fifth consecutive month consumers had to pay more for their groceries.

Food prices are on track to rise by as much as 7 percent by the end of 2007, according to the CPI index, although a U.S. Department of Agriculture economist says grocery price inflation may not go higher than 4 percent for the year.

USDA Economic Research Service economist Eprhaim Leibtag said the price hikes have made their way through the system to the consumer, leaving room for a possible decrease in prices for some food staples.

more...


And then, there's this:

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Business/Detail?contentId=3576507&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=4.1.1
Pizza Makers Face Higher Cheese Costs
Last Edited: Saturday, 23 Jun 2007, 1:03 PM EDT

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Before the dinnertime rush, Larry Lewis was chewing over business strategy at the Fat Jimmy's pizzeria he manages. The store had absorbed sharply rising cheese prices as long as possible. It was time to hike the price on pizzas and pass along some of the expense that had been eating into profits the past few months.

"We don't really have much choice," said Lewis, who competes in a pizza-heavy city that's the corporate home of large chains. The size of his price boost was still being hashed out. "It's won't be a huge increase, but there will be an increase."

Like Lewis, pizza makers around the nation -- from family-run pizzerias to national delivery chains -- are feeling the pinch from escalating costs for an essential ingredient in a hotly competitive, $30 billion-plus industry.

Block cheddar cheese -- the benchmark for mozzarella and other cheeses -- reached $2.08 a pound Thursday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, up 78 percent from $1.17 a pound a year ago. Industry observers attribute the price surge to strong demand and higher production prices -- from the cost of milk to the cost for dairy farmers to feed their herds.

more...


and this:

http://www.countercurrents.org/howden230607.htm
The Fight For The World's Food

By Daniel Howden

23 June, 2007
The Independent


Most people in Britain won't have noticed. On the supermarket shelves the signs are still subtle. But the onset of a major change will be sitting in front of many people this morning in their breakfast bowl. The price of cereals in this country has jumped by 12 per cent in the past year. And the cost of milk on the global market has leapt by nearly 60 per cent. In short we may be reaching the end of cheap food.

For those of us who have grown up in post-war Britain food prices have gone only one way, and that is down. Sixty years ago an average British family spent more than one-third of its income on food. Today, that figure has dropped to one-tenth. But for the first time in generations agricultural commodity prices are surging with what analysts warn will be unpredictable consequences.

Like any other self-respecting trend this one now has its own name: agflation. Beneath this harmless-sounding piece of jargon - the conflation of agriculture and inflation - lie two main drivers that suggest that cheap food is about to become a thing of the past. Agflation, to those that believe that it is really happening, is an increase in the price of food that occurs as a result of increased demand from human consumption and the diversion of crops into usage as an alternative energy resource.

On the one hand the growing affluence of millions of people in China and India is creating a surge in demand for food - the rising populations are not content with their parents' diet and demand more meat. On the other, is the use of food crops as a source of energy in place of oil, the so-called bio-fuels boom.

As these two forces combine they are setting off warning bells around the world.

more...


and here's the killer:
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2699083.ece

Biofuels to blame as beer prices soar 40 per cent in Germany
Published: 24 June 2007

Biofuels may be good for the environment, but they are bad news for German beer drinkers. Prices in the country's pubs look set to rise by 40 per cent this year, because Germany's farmers are growing less barley for beer production and more crops for biodiesel and bioethanol.

The head of the German brewers' association, Richard Weber, has caused outrage among friends of the annual Oktoberfest beer jamboree by predicting the hefty price rise. He pointed out that the German barley crop has been halved this year and that prices have soared by 50 per cent within 12 months. Poor-quality harvests, caused by unusually hot weather, have not helped either.

As a result, Germany's brewers, which insist on the purity of their beer and offer organic brands to emphasise their green-tinged credentials, have turned over a new leaf. They are now demanding an end to the use of crops to make fuel.

"The energy and food sectors are competing for the same raw materials and the same acreage," said Mr Weber.

[WCGreen]

1. Well, Bush and his ilk won't have to worry....

They will be able to afford to live in this Brave New World we have been busy creating over the last seven years...

But the rest of us...

We're on our own...

[Bozita]

2. If you'd like to have a beer with Bush, bring more money.

Bush doesn't carry any money.

Just guilt.

[orleans]

7. and, obviously, we know how little of the guilt he carries. n/t

[Jack Sprat]

3. What determines the inflation rate?

Most of us know prices are spiking on everything from fuel to food, but the Fed reports say that inflation remains in check.

When Paul Volker was raises rates to the astro levels in the late 70s under Carter, I don't recall price spikes like we are experiencing now, yet interest rates were in the teens then and very low today by comparison.

[ribrepin]

6. Read "Empire of Debt" by Bill Bonner

There's too much in the book to give a short summary, but people and the government are running on credit. Inflation is under control because they don't use fuel and food to figure inflation anymore...just cheap China crap.

They're telling lies again. Our family uses little credit and we are feeling the pinch. I think a lot of people live on credit and haven't noticed the increase yet. Eventually 30 years of lies are going to come crashing down. Bush just hopes to get out of the White House before that happens and I'm beginning to think he not going to make it.

[Seabiscuit]

4. I really can't fathom how anyone worth less than $1 million, or with less than

$60K in annual disposable income after taxes can afford to live in this country at all any more.

Unless, of course, they live in the poorest backwash town somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the midwest, where a 10-acre mansion sells for under $500K, and a 1 bedroom apartment rents for under $200/month.

[Dave From Canada]

10. That's kind of funny seeing as though America probably has the lowest prices for food, housing and

gasoline compared to the rest of the G8. I know in Canada, our gasoline costs more then in America, as does food. Plus we pay higher taxes.

[Seabiscuit]

15. Don't the higher costs of gasoline and taxes in Canada provide for health care?

If I pay $3 per gallon for gas in the U.S. and $6 per gallon for gas in France, for instance, and drive 1K miles per month, at 25 miles per gallon, I'm paying an extra 40 gallons X $3 per gallon per month in France, or $120/month for health care. That compares to the $1,300 per month I pay for Blue Cross insurance premiums alone for my family of 3 (not including all the money I pay in deductibles and the 20% of medical bills Blue Cross doesn't cover). That's about a 12X - 20X ratio - for every $1 I pay in France I pay $12 - $20 in the U.S. for health care costs. And over a year that can amount to $12K - $20K per year here vs. $1K in France. Any difference in food costs, etc. pales in significance when you consider this one factor alone.

I'm sure the comparisons for Canada, which I'm not as familiar with yield similar results.

Conclusion: in terms of a monthly or annual budget you're far better off paying twice as much for gasoline/taxes in Canada than in the U.S. when you factor in comparative health care costs.

Millions of Americans simply can't afford to pay the kinds of health care costs I and millions more are saddled with. That's a humongous problem Canada and G8 countries simply don't have.

[HereSince1628]

13. I understand your frustration . . .

but you've manifested a certain dislike about the midwest that's unhealthy.

[Seabiscuit]

16. It has nothing to do with the midwest per se.

Such places can be found in various parts of most States - but certainly don't exist in places like San Francisco, L.A. or San Diego. Or New York, Boston, Chicago, etc., etc., etc.

[DFW]

5. I hate beer and can't eat pizza any more

But that's no comfort: all the healthy stuff costs more!

[spoony]

8. I say...I'm screwn

Pizza? Beer? What next, are darts going to cost more?

Best live it up whilst I can still afford to. :toast:

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Climate Change, Biofuels, and the price of Oil

--p!

[Matsubara]

11. I remember in the 90s when they were talking about genetically modifying cows to make more milk...

...at the time, there was some controversy because there were already huge surpluses of milk and milk was heavily subsidized to keep the price from collapsing. Even then, cows were very productive because of all the hormones they were being given, but the milk producers wanted to get MORE Out of each cow so they wanted frankencows.

So I assume at this point, they have the frankencows online, they're still doped up on hormones and antibiotics :puke:

So why is milk so damn expensive now? Is it the cost of the gas to get them to market?

[LaurenG]

12. All food prices are up - I can't afford to buy beer and pizza right now

I spent $98.00 yesterday on organic fresh fruit and veggies, 1/2 a gallon of orange juice, taco shells, 2 cans of beans, organic cereal (oats and shredded wheat) 1/2 quart of vanilla rice dream, 2 loaves of whole wheat bread, a dozen eggs for hubby, angel hair spaghetti. 1 package veggie bacon and 2 packages of vegan veggie burgers. I purchased no "meat", milk, soy milk, cheese or other extras.

I'd say that was ridiculous. :eyes:

Thank goodness I almost have some tomatoes that are ripe enough to eat, growing in the garden.



*I realize organic is more expensive but I believed if I demanded it it would become less expensive, I think I might be mistaken.

[Squatch]

14. Good time to start Home-brewing

I brew the beer I drink.