Get ready for higher grocery prices!

Everybody needs to be aware that the prices of groceries are starting to rise and will continue. There was a story on our local news the other evening about the cost of corn rising. Apparantly they are using corn as an alternative fuel source, so it is driving the prices higher. It is also driving the prices higher for the farmer to feed his livestock the same corn (competition by fuel) so the prices of milk and other items will be higher due to the corn shortage. Not only is there a corn shortage, but due to the high demand alot of farmers are now going to plant corn this season instead of other grains, thus driving up the prices of other items like flour and things other grains are made of, because then there will be  a shortage of other grains. This is added to the rise in the price of gasoline again. Things are not looking so good! We live in a farming/ranching community, that is what is going on here in OK.

Now is the time for the garden. A spot the size of a tennis court will feed a family of four for a year. Some things winter over, but you can freeze, can and dehydrate fresh veggies. They taste better and cost a lot less than store bought.

there is supposed to be an independent trucking boycott starting April 23,24,25. with trucks being stopped protesting mexican drivers haveing access to the USA without DOT regulations.  The site to get this infor is www.saveamericafund.com.  This at the very least will increase our grocery prices and and the worst case scenerio, completely shut down our delivery service for food, medicine, equipment, etc. There is also speculation that the union will also be involved not just the independent truckers. This sounds like one of those domino effects we have in fact been concerned about. I understand the truckers concernes, but it seems a little drastic to me. We will have to watch and see.

I support the Truck drivers 1000% ( one thousand % )  if it wernt for the truck driver delivering your fuel,food, candy bars, and clothing , ect.  and all your meds. America would come to a complete halt!       THINK ABOUT IT.     

Turboguy wrote: I don't think it's totally incumbent on the corn for alternative fuels, but it sure is a factor!   I saw a different report yesterday (It's now the 18th of April) and it's getting extremely expensive to transport food and whatnot to your store of choice. If Diesel prices start getting close to that magic $4.00 a gallon number we're going to have a *MAJOR* problem on our hands!   At that price for diesel it begins to cost the driver to haul produce etc. and to cost farmers to use their equipment to harvest,plant and till their fields of vegetables.   It's not even summer yet and the oil markets are looking grim. One good hurricane, terrorist attack, or other disruption of oil and we're not going to need a pandemic to get the fecal matter to impact the spinning air displacement unit...

LOL on your dung and fan discription. The price of diesel for the driver and the farmer are tax deductible, but the cost for the new deductible equipment is out of budgetary reach. The cost of seeding and harvesting I believe is not as much a problem as finding the demand that yields a profitable product rather than sacraficed spoils. 

The trucker that deliver to my work. complain about there taxes are going up, with more taxes being added, with less deductions. several of the truckers tell me thay have to make $2000 a week just to break even.

This is all great information, but you are not keeping your eyes on the ball. The question is, "What are food prices going to be if a Pandemic Hits"? The price of corn, or fuel isn't going to matter if there is no one to drive the trucks.
Trapper

i know my truck will be sitting if the shtf there is no way i would put my family in danger   alot of drivers will be sitting

trucker110, welcome to aft, you will luv it. Quick question, are u participating the the independent trucker rally? There seems to be a newsblackout on this, I have looked everywhere on main stream media, w/no infor so far. Would u also mind expressing your opinion on this situation, I would really like to know your opionion as u are definetly in the trenches and dealing w/high diesel prices, etc. thanks in advance and again good to have u aboard.

There was a truckers rally at OKC yesterday at the state capital, I heard about it on the radio news yesterday. I have not been in a grocery store in a couple of days though to see if there is any drastic difference, will be going tomorrow though.

Went to Wally World a while ago. I like to go when the crowds are non-existent, cause it gives me more of an opportunity to really look at what I'm buying. So I was there today at 5am.

This may be what is really behind the US Truckers protests the past few days.

Congressional Record > Mar 7, 2007
OPPOSITION TO EXPANDED MEXICAN TRUCKING IN THE U.S.
The United States House of Representative

Mar 7, 2007

Section 46

Rep. Jones [R-NC]: Mr. Speaker, in just a matter of weeks, thousands of Mexican trucks will stream across America's southern border and pour onto U.S. highways throughout the country. ...

Record Text
Chair: Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC]: Mr. Speaker, in just a matter of weeks, thousands of Mexican trucks will stream across America's southern border and pour onto U.S. highways throughout the country.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has given 100 Mexican trucking companies the green light to unleash an unlimited number of trucks onto the highways of America as part of a 1-year pilot program.

Right now, Mexican trucks are only permitted to travel inside a 25-mile commercial zone along the U.S. border, but, soon, thousands of Mexican trucks will have full access to all the Nation's roads.

Allowing low-paid drivers and substandard trucks to travel our Nation's roads will endanger the safety of American citizens. It will cost thousands of American jobs.

As an extension of NAFTA, this program is just another example of U.S. trade policies that fail American workers. Before NAFTA, our Nation ran a trade surplus with Mexico. Now, the U.S. runs a $65 billion annual trade deficit with Mexico. The U.S. has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs in just the past 6 years.

Launching this pilot program in the name of free trade is just one more example of how our government continues to give away American jobs. This program will not only hurt the economy but will put our national security at risk.

The Department of Transportation claims that all of these Mexican trucks will be inspected by U.S. officials in Mexico and at the border, but, Mr. Speaker, less than 10 percent of all Mexican trucks entering the commercial zone are inspected now, only 10 percent. The U.S. cannot afford to send inspectors to Mexico when only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. truck companies are inspected each year.

With no guaranteed way to inspect the cargo of each and every truck, this program could easily aid terrorist activities, the entry of illegal drugs and illegal human smuggling.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of appeasing Mexico, our government is not protecting the national security of this country and the future of our economy. This program does nothing but endanger the safety of American citizens, and it is unacceptable.

I hope the American people will continue to contact this administration to tell them of their outrage and disappointment.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, this is from a heading in an eastern North Carolina paper that says, "Bush Decision on Mexican Trucks Promotes Era." People are upset and mad. I want to read just very briefly, "The news that Mexican trucks will be allowed to haul freight deep into the United States drew angry reaction Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates and Members of Congress." They said, "Mexico has substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that will threaten national security, cost thousands of jobs and endanger motorists on the northern side of the Mexican border."

Mr. Speaker, I hope that the people of this great Nation will listen to these discussions and debates by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, because if we are concerned about national security, we should not allow these trucks to have free access to the roads of the American people.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-h20070307-46&person=400209
    

I have noticed Walmart's prices are rising like crazy! I am now paying $1.23 for a loaf of hot bread, used to be 1.00, their pasta GV brand rotini used to be .50 for 16oz, yesterday it was .68, their Borden cheese was 1.50 for 8oz, now 1.76, the Sams soda used to be .50 for a 2-liter, I think it went up to .68, their regular bread used to be .68 for the cheapie small loaf now it's 1.08.  The thing is the prices are not just rising a few pennies, they are substantially higher than they were 4-5 months ago. These are the only things I can think of  right off hand, I know there is more.

  I don't want to be misleading I didn't get the can bread from Walmart.  I bought it from some place on the internet.

Penham wrote: <FONT style=": #222222">Annie, there were a couple of things that were low in stock, there was hardly any regular bread, hot dog ,  burger buns, sandwich rolls every type of bread product was almost gone. Hardly any Gatorade, Powerade type drinks, low on sour cream (there was like 5 containers left) low on all cheeses. This was at a statewide chain grocery store.

Scary having so many items missing and critically low from only three days of trucker protests. Imagine what the supermarket shelves will look like after a week or after a day when the pandemic flu arrives.

I believe its important to have a minimum of six months of supplies based on the arrival of even a serious flu, abstentism rate which will affect the loading/unloading of trucks, the stocking of shelves and even the clerks operating the amount of bays open for your payment.

I was in the 70's gas price wars and sat in my car in lines for hours in Los Angeles County; I don't want to go around anyone ill or disgruntled durning a pandemic. So prepare, prepare, prepare.
    

  Annie good for you and your family.  I hope that you are able to complete your new home before any major disater happens.   Good Luck

Ugh... Gas prices here in Minnesota are $3.00 a gallon. At my place in Missouri it's sitting around $2.80 a gallon.

Just so everyone knows these are the levels the prices were at in the aftermath of Katrina. Everyone freaked out then. It's getting mega expensive and we're not even into summer, or better yet hurricane season yet.

My department has already said that if gas prices get too high we're not going to do patrol anymore, only call reaction. I guess there won't be many speeding tickets written though...

Too much more and we're going to have a complete economic colapse as people will not be able to go to the store and buy the crap that keeps our economy rolling.

yea, i know what u mean TurboGuy, here in the deep south we are at 2.80 a gal for gas, this is the price we usually have post-hurricane, what will it be like this summer. We are putting any traveling plans on hold for this summer, alot of different reasons, price of gas, possible vunerablity of crowded areas and exposure to numerous things. We are just going to go swimming in the river, try to stay cool, prep, and keep up w/our garden. Our children who live far away (Tenn & mid-Alabama) LOL, are going to make one trip each home to visit. I feel a great urge to step up my prepping and replinish my pantry, I prep  what we eat when it is on sale and every grocery day (twice a month) buy at least 1 more 24 pkg toilet paper. I keep a log book of prices to compare to buy what is truly on sale, and have found almost all of my regular purchses have gone up at least 5 cents over the past 3 months. I do not see the prices going any lower actually, and in fact see only prices going higher and higher. Now is the time to load up your freezer, pantry, and preps. Start your veg. garden now, when hamburger, chicken, etc, is on sale spend double the amount you would normally spend, to stock up. It is the only way that has worked for me, i tried the going out a purchasing alot of stuff at one time, say from Wally-world or sams, and felt like i could not even make a dent in my prep list.

I was thinking too that the grocery prices will increase with the increase of gas prices. Summer isn't even here yet and gas is over $3! This is nuts. Our property taxes and house insurance went up too! Where does it end.

It is getting scary. Too much more and we're not going to need any avian flu to destroy this thing we call society. I'm having quite a lot of trouble trying to figure out how the stock market and economy keeps plugging along with the vast majority of people getting royally boned at the pump. People aren't going out as much as they used to and aren't buying the useless crap that is needed to keep the economy moving.

We've been having loads of drive offs (Where people fuel up and drive away without paying) theft of food, and stealing fuel from cars through siphoning lately. I wonder how much longer until we're responding to aggrivated violence over fuel.

   Turboguy, I had the same question...with the prices of gas, groceries, taxes, insurance and everything else going up how is the stock market doing soooo good? I see the Dow Jones numbers going up at the fastest pace EVER...What's going on?