Tuesday, March 04, 2008

New Rules For Food Shopping

America's food basket prices have been going up and up recently. Some of the prices now are excessive. The prices on a lot of things are not going up pennies, or even a nickel, or a dime, but as much as fifty cents or even a dollar.

The reasons for American food price increases include many variables. First is global competition which means two things: world population increase and that the diets of third world people are increasing per capita as they become wealthier. For example some groups that were vegetarian and eating once per day are now supplementing their diets with animals and eating more than once per day. Another factor is that Nature ruins some crops creating shortages. Another factor is that the world including America is converting food to energy. Another is that the market of some food products are not rational and due to some forces identified and not identified are also increasing prices.

All of us know that we purchase less food today than we did last year for the same amount of money. Some of us are lucky that we can still afford to buy the foods we like and and have purchased over the years. But many of us will have to find alternatives to buy that fit our food budgets. There are other Americans that have depended upon food stamps and food banks for their food and will get less food today than they did even last year. There are other Americans who have been able to purchase their food without assistance in the past that will need assistance now. There are other Americans who go to bed hungry each night and that number increases due to to the current shortages and high prices.

We all like to eat and drink foods that are harmful to us such as those loaded with salt, sugar, fat, and white carbohydrates, but some of can control going overboard with the bad foods while those on a small budget can only afford those things and their health and waistlines suffer from it.

The food pantries are suffering from smaller donations and increased numbers of people needing assistance. We should all try to donate to our local food pantries. If we have financial difficulty shopping for our family, we should ask the food pantry for assistance.

Food Stamps have been the primary safety net on food for people who do not have the funds to obtain an adequate diet. The government runs the program. Washington has strangled the program by not increasing the income levels for people to be eligible for the program. The government has also strangled the program by not increasing the dollar amount of Food Stamps a qualified person or family is eligible for. There are at least 10 million Americans that should apply and obtain Food Stamps in America today, beyond the number already receiving benefits today.

We know prices go up pretty quickly, but go down very slowly. We should press our political leaders on the high cost of food and ask them when will the prices go down. We should ask them what do they plan to do about it, because the prices will only increase if we do nothing. We should ask them to explain their position on Food Stamps and ask when the last time income qualification and benefits were adjusted for inflation. Maybe we should boycott certain foods like eggs and soda for example until prices come down. Maybe we should throw our elected officials out of office for not meeting our needs.

We should write or call our elected officials to complain. They seem to be doing nothing about it. No public official is complaining with us about the high prices.

If you need help with your food purchases do not be afraid to ask for help. Go to the food bank. Apply for food stamps. Call your elected officials and complain. Make sure you vote.