Food Prices Take A Bite Out Of Budgets

Americans Are Paying More For Less Food: As Prices Rise, Spending Stays The Same

(CBS)  As Americans, we spend 15 percent of our annual income on food, but as food prices continue to skyrocket, CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason reports, we're getting less for more.

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They serve 235,000 meals everyday in Florida's Hillsborough County school system.

"We don't wanna raise the prices, but..." one cook said.

But the school board is considering adding 50 cents to the price of school meals, after its milk bill soared by $1.6 million.

"Everything going up on us," the cook added.

She's right. Over the past year, the cost of a gallon of milk is up 66 cents. A dozen eggs up 45 cents. A loaf of bread: 17 cents. A pound of beef: 15 cents.

Overall, food prices are expected to jump 5 percent this year. That means when you ring up your annual grocery bill, it will cost about $87 more per person.

The reason: a drought in Australia has cut grain supplies to Asia, where demand is surging in countries like China and India. And here at home, 20 percent of our corn is being used to make ethanol which is driving up all food prices.

We haven't cut back our spending. Not yet.

"We're actually spending the same amount," Andy Wolf, an analyst with BB&T Capital, said. "But we're buying less. I call it getting less for more."

"You're seeing customers going more towards chicken or sale items - they are not buying those $24 - $25 steaks like they used to anymore," said Dan Glickberg, vice president of Fairway grocery stores.

"You think prices could go higher still?" Mason asked.

"Oh, they are going to go higher," Glickberg said.

"Really?" Mason asked.

"Yeah. There really is no end in the foreseeable future," Glickberg said.

As Americans, we still spend less than 15 percent of our income on food. But it's getting a little more painful to eat the cost.

[lochlan-2009]

No linchings in D.C. yet? Wake me when the people of this country start standing up for themselves from the criminals who are robbing them blind.

[hypnotoad72]

Listening to Limbaugh will rot your mind. Repubicans have been in control and they have had ample time to approve exploration, blah, blah, blah. But ultimately, that isn''''t the problem at all. The problem is what is happening in the market, in which all OIL goes, and the manipulation of that price for profits. If things were so bad for the oil industry, they certainly wouldn''''t be making the big bucks now, would they?

Posted by rudy654
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Better to listen to everyone. Limbaugh is more charismatic, and isn''t always right, especially when he''s had all these drug addiction problems come out after his own lambasting of drug users... Doesn''t mean he''s always wrong either.

[forthepeopl1]

common sense is all that is needed.here it is.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson possibility of bailout for individual mortgage holders, singling out the growing number
going "under water" as their loans exceed the diminishing value of their properties.

please this is a simple thing to fix, why are you bending over for all of the wallstreet scum.
you have the right to do what this paulson/ben did for wallstreet,saying they had to to save america. so you can say the same thing, but this time you would be saveing america, and not wallstreet.
you must come out and stop the forcloseing of all these millions of homes, now,
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MANDATE THAT ALL MORTGAGES THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT FROM 2000 TO 2007 BY ALL AMERICANS TO BE RE-FI A.S.A.P. NO EXCEPTIONS,


NO MATTER WHAT THE CREDIT IS, THEY WILL RE-FI EVERYONE AT JUST OVER PRIME, AND AT A RATE OF 40% OF WHAT IS OWED ON THE PROPERTY( PERSONAL HOMES ONLY)!!
WHY, BECAUSE MOST HOST ARE SELLING AT FORCLOSER FOR 20 TO 30 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR, SO AS TO WHAT PAULSON SAID TO BEARSTEARN 2 DOLLARS IS BETTER THAN NO DOLLARS SO TAKE THE DEAL..NOW REMEMBER ALL OF YOU, IF THIS COMPANY IN 6 MONTHS LOST 98% OF THEIR VALUE FROM 700 BILLION TO WHAT IS IT NOW. AND FOR SOMEONE TO COME IN AND BUY IT FOR NOTHING, WHAT IS THE REAL VALUE OF ALL THESE HOMES???NOBODY KNOWS, SO WHY NOT JUST START OVER??? AND STOP THE BLEEDING FOR ALL AMERICANS.

[e-mail]
DAVID A BELANGER

[rudy654-2009]

As Bush himself says, he has no solution. That alone should tell you a lot.

[livingonless]

to keep my truck filled as cheap as possible I always fill up every other time I use it.With prices rising by the day it is the only way to keep it filled.
Our stimulus check went to $600. to fill our k-1 barrel. Savings the rest for next winter. One less thing to worry about.
I keep our housed stocked with food. I do not run out before going shopping. The goverment should think about just maybe not letting prices get out of hand but, drill for more oil.before we run out. I wonder about those so called educated people running our country.

[livingonless]

to keep my truck filled as cheap as possible I always fill up every other time I use it.With prices rising by the day it is the only way to keep it filled.
Our stimulus check went to $600. to fill our k-1 barrel. Savings the rest for next winter. One less thing to worry about.
I keep our housed stocked with food. I do not run out before going shopping. The goverment should think about just maybe not letting prices get out of hand but, drill for more oil.before we run out. I wonder about those so called educated people running our country.

[trillion1]

We''ve noticed the perishable sections in our stores, mainly produce and baked goods, are getting smaller. More basic items and fewer exotic things. For us the bottom line is we can do with-out alot of things. How long can the stores go with-out our shopping?

[bozworth4]

It is known to businesses the minimum wage is going up in July 2008 and July 2009, so of course all the stores are going to raise their rates. they don''''t like minimum wage increases and they know the buyers will get more money


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Posted by geena5


The only real winners in wage increases is the Government, thru increased witholdings and SS withholdings. Give this some thought, and you will see that product raise to offset wage increases, but Ol uncle sam gets a higher amount in the rotation. Thanks King George II!

[rudy654-2009]

Our Democratic leaders prohibit the exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida to "protect our beaches."
Posted by andylance1 at 09:37 PM

Listening to Limbaugh will rot your mind. Repubicans have been in control and they have had ample time to approve exploration, blah, blah, blah. But ultimately, that isn''t the problem at all. The problem is what is happening in the market, in which all OIL goes, and the manipulation of that price for profits. If things were so bad for the oil industry, they certainly wouldn''t be making the big bucks now, would they?

[guest173]

It is known to businesses the minimum wage is going up in July 2008 and July 2009, so of course all the stores are going to raise their rates. they don''t like minimum wage increases and they know the buyers will get more money

[stn_sage]

It would be nice to get another, as accurate estimate as possible of what''s in the Gulf.

It would be nice to leave some oil reserves for future generations, should THEY need it for a particular reason.

It would be interesting to know how much of these increases are a result of wholesale distributors price gouging the consumer!

Well---we''ll see what happens here in America,huh?

[andylance1]

The top five nations we get our oil from are Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Half of the oil Mexico produces, about 1.7 million barrels a day, comes to the United States at $125 a barrel. Most of it comes from the Gulf of Mexico.

A couple of years ago they discovered a new oil field 60 miles off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico. It is believed to contain 10 billion barrels of oil.

Our Democratic leaders prohibit the exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida to "protect our beaches."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said this week: "Republicans must abandon their shortsighted strategy of ''drill, drill, drill.'' ... We can''t produce our way out of the problems that we have."

What do you think? Do you like to pay $4 a gallon for gas?