I was in the grocery store “a major grocery chain” this past week just to pick up a couple of items….it always happens that way especially right before we are about to have a party at our house. The man in front of me was having the cashier ring up his tomatos.
They rang up to $4.19 on the cash register and the man said that cannot be correct I am only purchasing two tomatoes. The young cashier proceeded to double-check and re-scan and re-weigh both tomatoes said “Sir you are right, that will be $4.14. I’m sorry.” The man looked at her as if she did not understand what she was saying but I sure did. You see he was having that first “Ahhhaaaaa” moment about how quickly the economy is going downhill. Sometimes if you send your wife to the store (no offense to you men that are the primary shopper in your household) but sometimes you can lose your grasp on just how high prices are getting. If you are not the primary shopper or the primary bill payer it can creep up on you and sucker punch you. Also I notice I don’t always pay attention to how high prices are getting at the grocery store until I only purchase a couple of items.
Well the man told the cashier she could keep the tomatoes and promptly walked out of the store. The cashier looked at me incredulously as if to say can you believe that? I told her “It’s going to get a lot worse….grocery prices are rising, food is not as readily available, and we the average American consumer are not ready for this.” I also went on to share with her some of my thoughts about eating locally and seasonally although I am not going to tell you I only eat locally and seasonally because I don’t. But do I see that coming….Yes I do! We actually have friends of ours that participated in the 100 mile diet and they were truly inspirational I don’t know if they still do but most likely knowing them and their commitment and passion about the Earth they are still participating in some version of this diet. Here is a wonderful blog on the locavore diet: ” “Cricket Bread” . They even have a challenge on their site called “Eat Carolina” check it out!
The funny thing is the “Tomato” has a long history of causing controversy at one point in time it was thought to have caused cancer. But you know the “Tomato” is symbolic in my story of a whole host of things not working in our present economy.
Read my last post on “Food Prices Are Climbing – Whats a Consumer to do?” if you have not read it is extremely eye-opening! Plus I provide tips on how to save money and cut food costs!
And check out my blog article on “Dried Milk A Pantry Essential” , I don’t know about your store but milk is $3.99 a gallon at my grocery store. Dried milk can save you a lot of money!
Groceries are getting higher it seems to be happening faster than I even expected. So I googled this very statement and guess what Food Prices were not expected to go up as fast but now we are looking at approximately a 4.5% increase. Click Here to learn more! I am not one to panic about food prices because often they cycle but this might be a good time to stock up on some pork and beef before they go up any higher…..or for that matter why not just try out being a vegetarian for the time being. My daughter eats primarily a vegetarian diet but then sometimes breaks down when we are having steak and I can’t blame her a good rib eye is hard to resist 😉 Here is a link on going vegan. The Vegan blog “Vegan Homemade” is done by a chef and her recipes look fabulous so even if you are not planning on going all out Vegan you should try some of her recipes! I don’t know if you will save money but if you grow a lot of your own food you could for sure… many people think it’s a healthier lifestyle. For me I still participate in meatless Monday’s but for now that is as far as I am heading because I like meat and at this point in time do not plan to give it up my only goal right now is trying to eat less processed meats.
I have several friends that engage in a Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle and although I am not committed to one it is certainly another diet alternative and one we should all at least consider. I also have friends that engage in a partial Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle for a while my husband and I were eating 2 to 3 meatless or very small amounts of meat at meals we will probably start doing this more even though my teenage Football linebacker son is fairly certain I am torturing him 😉
Just some food for thought on this chilly Carolina Sunday!
Take Care’ and Thanks for stopping by our Lil’ Suburban Homestead!
PS – Saving Money On Climbing Grocery Prices is a Home Art 🙂 
People balked at paying $1.50 for two big, gorgeous, naturally-raised, sun ripened tomatoes at my Farmer’s Market stand this year, but they would go into the grocery store and pay much more for two mealy, watery, driven from God-knows-where tomatoes because they didn’t realize that the price per pound made them more expensive. It was very frustrating!
Sharon I don’t think that the average consumer really gets that things are going up because gas and oil are going up. To be able to buy local delicious tomatoes for an affordable price is such a wonderful thing! I actually don’t remember what are prices for tomatos were at The Farmers Market this past year but we grow a lot of our own. I think I paid about that price for some Black tomatos I got last weekend in the mountains. Your tomatos sound much tastier 🙂
A friend of mine who stays on top of all things political told me probably 2 years ago that food prices were going to skyrocket, due to the price of corn and oil. And man oh man!! Was she ever right! Its funny that you mention men sending their wives to the store. My husband NEVER goes to the grocery store (Its a good thing too, bc he just comes back with cans and cans of jalapeno pinto beans and corn dogs! Then, he’s all excited….”Look at what I got!!”).
Sometimes, he’ll say “Did you bring home any Blue Bell?” No, I did not. “Why not? Its only like $2” Uhhhhh….noooooo……
We have just really begun to grow our own food. This last year was more of an experiment with this up coming year being the real deal. At first my husband was a bit resistant because he didn’t think we had the time or money to invest, but when I said, “we need to practice for when we really do need it”, it hit him, yes, as the economy is turning so bad, we may very well need these skills in the near future and we don’t know the first thing about raising our own food. So he’s totally on board now. I had to laugh recently, I had been tossing around the idea of growing a bit of our own wheat mostly to use as straw (and of course using the wheat) but hadn’t mentioned it to my husband yet. I figured I may have to really present an argument to get him on board. Well, he brought up the same idea to me before I had a chance to mention it to him. lol!!!
~Lynn
Lynn our garden is constantly evolving even though we have been gardening for years for one thing it used to be more of a hobby now its a way of life. It sounds like this same thing is happening with you and your husband. I wish you guys a fun adventure filled journey. I will definitely have to stop by soon and check out your blog!