Rising food prices hurting consumers

While rising gas prices get the headlines, rising grocery prices are also chewing through our wallets.

There are ways to get around buying gas, but you have to eat. Many shoppers say they’re making adjustments to their normal grocery list. From soup to nuts, shoppers say most everything in their cart is more expensive these days.

According to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation survey, the overall cost for basic grocery items was up 8-9 percent in the last year.

A loaf of white bread is up 16 cents. A dozen eggs is up 55 cents. And a five-pound bag of flour is up 69 cents from the first quarter of 2007.

Leland resident William Morris said, “They’re outrageous, they’re real high just like gas, everything is going up.”

Winnabow resident Pat Bordeaux said, “I’m sure it’s because the gas prices and the trucks that have to bring the food because they have to have their money too so they have to go up I’m sure that makes the food prices go up. I feel like I can see.”

That’s only part of the reason. Wheat prices are at an all-time high because many farmers have stopped planting it, so they can grow more corn. Corn prices are soaring because it’s used to make ethanol — an alternative for expensive oil. Those record oil prices mean it’s more expensive to transport food to market.

That means more money out of your wallet, just for the bare necessities.

Winnabow resident Wilda Rogers said, “It’s just my husband and myself, and I spend over $100 for groceries — and it doesn’t even last a week We don’t eat high off the hog either. We try and find the cheapest stuff we can.”

Many shoppers say they’ve had to cut corners in certain spots. For example, one woman showed me a small container of bleach she was buying instead of the gallon size that used to be in her cart. They also say clipping coupons and buying generic brands have been good ways to cut back.