"Nowhere to Hide" from Rising Food Prices

(CBS)  NEW YORK -- Don't look now, but inflation is expected to hit food hard this year.

"Corn is a big one" in the higher prices department, Bloomberg Businessweek Assistant Managing Editor Sheelah Kolhatkar told "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Betty Nguyen. "The Agriculture Department released a report a couple of days ago about crop forecasts for the year and predicted corn production is going to go down very significantly, which led to a spike in prices."

Why corn's rise?

"There are a lot of reasons," Kolhatkar replied. "Weather is cited as a big one. There's been sort of freak weather in different parts of the world. Russia experienced a drought. There are floods in Australia. There's been sort of freezing weather in Florida. Our own Midwest experienced flooding earlier this year.

"And because the market for a lot of these food commodities is global, when something strange happens somewhere, that can affect a crop.

Making matters worse, she says, "Corn has sort of a ripple effect, because it goes into a lot of different foods, and it is a big component of feed for animals. So, meat, as a result, is expected to go up quite a bit -- beef and pork were cited. Other grains, wheat, and (many) fruits and vegetables."

The same thing can be said of soy. Its price is thought likely to increase, and it's used in a wide variety of foods.

"There's really nowhere to hide," Kolhatkar observed. "I heard an economist from the U.N. say yesterday there is really nothing good in this story, particularly."

One holdout? "It seems eggs have not gone up as much as other things. I was thinking. 'Eggs for dinner' might be one slogan to tack onto your refrigerator!"

But higher food prices won't stop at your door.

"Restaurants are expected to be sort of passing on some of these costs to their consumers," Kolhatkar said. "The coffee shop down the street from my house had a sign saying they were raising their pastry prices because of wheat prices going up and they were sorry. And the fact is, you're going to have to think twice before buying the muffin, going out to dinner. It might be good opportunity to rediscover cooking at home."

In which case, what can consumers to minimize the impact on them of rising food prices?

"I think," Kolhatkar responded, "the key right now to shop smarter, to buy things and load up on them when they're on sale, to accept that if tomatoes in the middle of winter are eight dollars a pound, you're just gonna use canned tomatoes. And that scary thing -- clipping coupons if you have time to do that that -- always works. And don't go to the supermarket hungry. Bring a list."

[usshak76]

Hi this is nothing, this is just a beginning of something beyond our imagination. I estimate that the food prices until the end of 2012 will increase 400% from now. Learn how to grow your own vegetables.

[Lorelei2011]

If you control the oil you control the country; if you control food, you control the population.. ~Henry Kissinger

[greco99-2009]

Most grain and corn is grown for livestock feed, and it takes 100 lbs of feed to make one pound of meat.

Most of the good farming land in the US and other parts of the world is not planted.

This is a phony 'shortage' created by agro-giants wielding their monopoly power.

[ksmoney]

We're getting prepared for anything that may happen. Was at the store the other day and bought Kroger brand green beans for $1.06 a can. I remember not too long ago when they were .69 cents a can. Went online and found meals for .91 cents a serving, dehydrated from premium-grade fresh raw American foods. Food that is not genetically altered, no illegal fertilizers or insecticides, no hydrogenated oils and zero trans fats. Certified kosher as well. I got 6 free meals, just paid s&h. www.kristenschuster.myefoods.com Food is delicious!

[unionjack84]

for 98% of us, everything is going up except pay, unemployment, retirement, welfare, social security checks.

[BoatFoot]

Maybe we ought to turn the water back on in California's Central Valley and forget the Delta Smelt fishie.

[youbrew12]

This has nothing to do with the FED 'inventing' close to a trillion dollars recently? Well, at least those banksters from whom the FED bought US treasuries will be able to afford food. The rest of us can buy food with credit cards charging 30%, and when that runs out, we can starve.

[youbrew12]

not to mention the all powerful US farm lobby got its paid minions in Congress to continue the ethanol program. So, you can feed your mouth or your gas tank. Problem is, corn ethanol has already been proven to require more fossil fuels (as fertilizers, etc) than it absorbs, the ethanol program is just an expensive subsidy to corn farmers.

[BoatFoot]

Didn't CBS warn us how stupid Sarah Palin was on Nov. 9, 2010 for warning that prices were going up and coming inflation?

[rightbehind]

Watch what happens to her doom and gloom report when people start growing victory gardens. A 30 X 30 foot garden will do a lot of feeding for the average family. Republicans will probably try and pass a law against growing our own food. They don't like the small farmers.

[abigailndavid]

@rightbehind - actually, A bill that gives the FDA the freedom to do just that was passed in the lame duck session, ruled by the Democrats just a couple months ago. Many of us called for an amendment that would exempt the local gardener, but that was not accepted. It was Senate Bill 510. - this link provides a roll call of who voted for and against it when in committee ( http://twg2a.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/sb-510-food-modernization-act-passed/ ). It's just a matter of time before goons in the FDA start closing the home gardener down.

[ddaryl]

it's done intentionally.... Drive up prices and force us all to become desperate and enslaved to the free market / capitialsim in a way we never dreamt woudl happen.

its a slow process but those who crave power and desire to control are licking their chops at the opportunity to control our necessities like they have been for eons...

the real problem is most of us are too comfortable to stand up to anything right now and when we finally do it will be way to late.

Enjoy the reality you support... but as long as we are diviided on petty issues and we will be, there is NO HOPE of real change....

What will happen is everyone will blame govenrment and in many cases rightfully so, but once the government is made weak by our distrust of the government, those corps and conglomerates will step in where government left off...

Someone will always be in control, but when the corps /conglomerates take control you won't have any one to vote for..... and isn't that the pattern happening today... Destroy trust in government so the the too big to fail crowd can sweep up afterwards...

enjoy !

[rightbehind]

Thanks for for sanity. Government, "our voice" is the solution.

[newsterl]

The Agriculture Department released a report a couple of days ago about crop forecasts for the year and predicted corn production is going to go down very significantly, which led to a spike in prices."

Yeah thanks to using corn in dozens of ethanol plants to make gasoline additives instead of food production, it's a supply and demand driven pricing system, the more demand and/or the lower the supplies, the higher the price- DUH.
So when they make those millions of gallons of ethanol, they are using corn and others- driving up the demand.

[rightbehind]

Pure spew. Once the corn is used for ethanol it still retains 60% of its food value. Great for live stock.

[youbrew12]

rightbehind: I'm sorry, that just doesn't sound right. The point of ethanol production is to turn starch into alcohol. What part of corn isn't starch, or as starch doesn't get turned into extractable ethanol? That just doesn't sound right.