Food for thought...so to speak!

[Euphemus]

Hi everyone. I don't post to CC all that often but I do read it almost every day or every other day. I follow new threads or catch up on previous 'heated' threads, for instance, the various food isssues that have come up recently: lobster/no lobster; brown sugar for oatmeal/no brown sugar; is the quality going down/up; etc.

 

I read the Economist and this week's cover story is something to the effect of "The end of cheap food". While the Economist is kind of dense, the gist of the article is that food prices have been rising worldwide over the last several years. If I remember correctly (and I may be wrong) they said something about a 75% increase worldwide in the last 3 years...now I don't think this means that your grocery bill at Jewel Osco/Price Chopper/A&P went up by that much, rather that the cost of food *worldwide* went up by a large percentage...chances are people in developing countries have been footing most of this increase.

 

These brings to mind 2 things, one cruise related and one not:

 

one not cruise related: I live and work at a boarding school in the NE which means I eat three meals a day in a dining hall (think Windjammer with teenagers and no oceanview:D ) so I don't buy groceries on a regular basis. For those of you who do, have you seen a big upswing in prices at your local grocery store? I had heard that the rise in gas prices was having an effect on grocery prices because virtually everything in a grocery store has to be transported. True?

 

cruise related: while I'm not an RCL apologist (although I do love RCL!) it seems to me that since food is a big part of cruising, this has got be something that the number-crunching people at RCL are worried about. There's no doubt that they have to be looking for ways to address increased food expenses. This might provoke them to experiment from time to time, cruise to cruise with 'cutting' certain items to discern reactions from passengers. Also I wonder if this is pushing some of the "Anytime Dining" issues. I'm not a Food and Beverage expert, but I wonder if the "Anytime Dining" format reduces food waste? (Prepare only what is ordered not what you think will walk in the door on any given night?) thus reducing costs. (?)

 

I'm no expert on any of this, but I wonder what others think or know.

 

Discuss! :p

 

PS...The Economist noted that the worldwide rise in food prices is the result of 2 major things: 1) the growing middle classes in China and India are eating more meat...it takes roughly 7-8 tons of grain to produce 1 ton of meat. This increase in the desire and ability to buy meat is putting pressure on the entire market. 2) The rising production of ethanol in the US (which also consumes a lot of grain) is raising prices because grain is being diverted from food prodcution to fuel production.

[Gonzo70]

For those of you who do, have you seen a big upswing in prices at your local grocery store? I had heard that the rise in gas prices was having an effect on grocery prices because virtually everything in a grocery store has to be transported. True?

 

Although I have seen prices trend upwards, I have not noticed a large price increase in my local grocery stores (primarily I go to Jewel) in Chicago.

 

Hopefully they won't announce a $5 per visit fuel surcharge.

[ShillyShally]

So that's what my mother reads! She gives me a doomsday update daily (complete with all known earthquake activity and solar flare occurrences) :)

 

I really haven't seen prices increase much apart from produce and dairy which I do understand when certain ones are out of season or weather has really affected crops, etc.

 

The one that irks me is cereal - those boxes just keep getting smaller while the prices keep getting higher. I am not even a usual indulger in cereal but I ge one craving and am reminded to treasure it by the price! :)

[ShillyShally]

So that's what my mother reads! She gives me a doomsday update daily (complete with all known earthquake activity and solar flare occurrences) :)

 

I really haven't seen prices increase much apart from produce and dairy which I do understand when certain ones are out of season or weather has really affected crops, etc.

 

The one that irks me is cereal - those boxes just keep getting smaller while the prices keep getting higher. I am not even a usual indulger in cereal but I get one craving and am reminded to treasure it by the price! :)

[RevSmith]

Although I have seen prices trend upwards, I have not noticed a large price increase in my local grocery stores (primarily I go to Jewel) in Chicago.

 

Hopefully they won't announce a $5 per visit fuel surcharge.

 

My grocery bill has DOUBLED in the past seven years...I can't believe it!:eek:

I have not changed what I have bought, but the prices keep going up, up, up or the containers keep shrinking...

[TEXASMUNK]

On rhaspdoy, they actually made the monster dishes smaller, now they are only almost monter size...means people can't pile as much.

 

meat costs and food costs....this tupid ethenol thing is "eating up" the supply of corn and driving up meat prices, tortilla prices, etc. And just think, it is helping to destroy the engine inyour car!