Food Price Inflation Is One Good Reason To Acquire Food Storage

While looking at recent government statistics regarding the CPI (Consumer Price Index), I notice (as most of you instinctively know) that food prices have been going up much higher than the government acclaimed inflation rate – which they continually tell us is low.

Well the fact is that by even their own numbers, many food prices have increased substantially – even during just this past year.

Here are some examples, and the rationale to build and acquire your own food storage (beyond just a few days or weeks)

 
Egg prices have gone up 21.8%.
Beef and Veal have gone up 12.6%.
Beef roast prices have increased 11.8%.
Beef steaks are now 11.1% higher.
Ground beef has gone up 10.1%.
Salt is up 5.3%.
Sugar is up 4.2%.
Dried beans are up 3.9%.
Chicken has increased 3.7%.
Even hot dogs are up 3.5%.

I could go on and on, but even foods that include rice, bread, lunchmeats, coffee, pasta, spices, and more, are all up substantially…

I am willing to bet that the government numbers listed above are actually lower than the reality in your local grocery store (as in, it’s probably worse than what they are even saying).

The government apparently weights ‘food’ as 14% of their overall calculation of the CPI – although I’ll speculate that many households are affected by more than that based on their weekly and monthly grocery bills…

By the way, apparently (according to the .gov), not all food prices are going up. Apparently (if you believe the numbers of .gov who notoriously warp facts and figures to their own benefit) the price of bacon, ham, pork, fish and seafood (and a few others) have decreased. Does this jive with what you’ve seen in your grocery store? Not sure where they do their grocery shopping… ;)

Source: bls.gov (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

How are they hiding it (food price inflation)? Some increases are so obvious that they cannot hide it while in other instances the manufacturers ‘trick’ you by way of their packaging. That is they may fill the package with less food product, or slightly reduce the (ounces) in their cans and other packages, or add more non-food ingredients (it’s amazing how they can ‘flavor’ just about anything these days).

The fact is that many foods are costing more and more, and their prices are increasing faster than your dollar is devaluing, which is why it is economically and financially prudent to build up a food storage in your home. The more that you stock up today (foods that you normally eat and rotate in and out), the more money you’ll save because it will only cost more next year or next week…

I’m curious to hear your own opinion regarding your perception of increasing food prices particularly during the past year. What items have gone up? Also, regarding packaged foods, have you noticed any changes in packaging?