Which Foods Will Cost More Because of the Drought?

[xchrom]

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/07/consumers-face-droughts-long-price-shadow



Consumers can expect the worst US drought in 50 years to cast a shadow across food prices throughout 2013, according to fresh government data released today. The estimates are the first to capture the effects of this summer's drought in America's heartland, and show food prices increasing at a rate well above normal expectations.

"We're expecting another year of tough food prices, bad news for consumers," said USDA food economist Richard Volpe.

"The difference between normal and higher than normal in this case is one hundred percent attributable to the drought," Volpe said. The food price index data is released by USDA each month; it is a set of numbers that indicates how much an average shopper is likely to pay at the supermarket.

Normal food inflation has been between 2.5-3.5 percent in recent years, Volpe said, and is calculated to include a variety of pushes and pulls on the economy, including fuel prices and the state of the American dollar. That so-called normal inflation rate will largely play out for the rest of this year, all things being equal, he said. The drought will surface in food prices next year.

Climate Desk has illustrated a handful of basic groceries in the graphic above, comparing the average prices for the last full year of data, 2011, with USDA's projected prices for 2013. While price increases may not seem too severe on the surface, they add up for a family on a budget across a year.

[2on2u]

1. Water for sure. n/t

[TexasProgresive]

2. Let see

All dairy products, meat prices may initially fall as the market gets saturated with a big sell off of breeding stock and then the price to rise as the cost of feed compounded with the scarcity of stock compound. Other things to go up- all corn based products from soft drinks to gasoline with added ethanol.

This won't be pretty.

[TexasTowelie]

3. Almost everything.

Cereal because of reduced crop yields.

Soda water and chocolate should go up since they both contain high-fructose corn syrup.

[liberal N proud]

4. Just the tip of the iceberg

And I don't mean just lettuce.

[1-Old-Man]

5. Chicken will be high, pork too, beef shouldn't be quite so bad

Everything that's sweetened that comes in a can will increase (HFCS) too.

[Javaman]

6. cattle eat corn.

every type of livestock in commercial ag eats corn.

on top of that, hay will also go up. (for those who don't eat factory farm meat)

anything that is packaged with a long shelf life will go up. HFCS while it works as a sweetener also works as a preservative.

[MadHound]

7. All of them, remember, corn is king

And corn is in almost every food product in some form or another. Corn is used to fatten cattle and hogs, corn is used to sweeten virtually everything, hell, corn is the main ingredient in your dog and cat's kibble.

All food prices are going to go up because the corn crop is dying, and corn is in everything.

[slackmaster]

8. I'll have to eat more fish and wild game

[hobbit709]

9. ALL of them of course.

[SoCalDem]

10. Everything.

Because the people in charge of pricing will let the "news" people gin up the drama, so the public will be expecting price increases.. Why NOT raise the prices?

Just as the gasoline prices jump up every time there is even a hint of possible disruption, every tick up, means that a new "floor" is established..

If you are paying $4 a product you used to pay $2.50 for, when it goes "down" to $3.50 , many people will be happy with that..

The saddest part, is that the middlemen are the ones profiting no matter what..

[MadHound]

12. You think that this drought is just a "drama"?

Come on out to the Midwest here. Hell just fly over the area. You will see nothing but acre after acre dying in the heat, brown and withered.

This isn't a "drama" being ginned up by the media, it is reality, a very frightening reality.

[SoCalDem]

13. Native Kansan here.. no need to explain to me

The drama is real, but media spins it to the nth degree to allow for even higher than normal speculation which drives prices up even more..

Droughts are nothing new, and will only get more frequent, but a LOT of it is due to the same ole stuff that brought on the dustbowl.. single crops, fields being stressed to the max, and speculation on the "market" driving what's grown and concern only for the prices paid to those same speculators & the agro-behemoths they represent.

[Zalatix]

11. Better question: What WON'T be more expensive.

[Coexist]

14. file this under, "its good to be vegan"

lol

[snooper2]

15. whoever is paying those prices needs to find an Aldi

LOL,
or at least a Kroger