Millennium Ark
Domestically the price of meat, milk, sugar and eggs is already taking a huge upward jump. If the root cause were a single issue, it might be absorbable or at least less damaging. However, multiple factors are hiking food prices and they are only expected to climb.
What's Happening to Our Food?
Small farmers are losing livestock and dairy cows to the economy because they can't afford the uncertainty and animal upkeep. Less production means the price of beef, milk, cheese and anything using these foods all compete for supplies.
Remember the half-billion egg recall in August? It's forced wholesale egg prices to rise nearly 40%. Consider every food that includes whole eggs and egg products. Snowballs roll downhill and so do price increases from producer to wholesaler to store to consumer.
Another story largely escaping notice is a lack of feed for turkeys. Despite Internet rumors that a turkey shortage exists, it's only their food. However, this Thanksgiving you'll either pay a premium or do without.
Stan and I usually roast a turkey about every 10 days, not just at holiday time. They're easy to fix, leaner than many proteins and cost less per pound. However, that scenario has changed.
In 2009, a surplus of gobblers from the preceding year dropped prices as low as 40 cents/pound. This year wholesalers will pay more than double for this year's Thanksgiving birds and pass the increase onto consumers.
Besides dairy, grains have taken hits globally and the majority of processed foods require these indispensable ingredients. For example, corn syrup (oops, now the P.C. term is corn sugar) is in nearly every product that needs sweetening. From soft drinks to canned fruit to cereal, baked goods and desserts – the majority use corn sugar. Less obvious uses of corns syrup include yogurt fermentation, thickening agent for cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream plus a ton of sauces like BBQ, teriyaki and tomato-based products; spice enhancer and tomato acidity cutter. It also sneaks into sausages and lunch meats as a stabilizer, binder and flavor enhancer.
Not only are grains consumed directly as cereals and are the backbone of breads, all baked goods, pastas and tortillas, they are a huge filler ingredient in most packaged foods, whether for human or pet consumption. On food labels, corn or wheat usually ranks toward the very top of the list. Animals also directly depend on these crops as feed.
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