Shock at the Grocery Store

(open air market near Issigeac, France)

If you’ve been to the grocery store lately you can’t have failed to notice the huge jump in prices. Where I live is notorious for having high food prices on everything except meat. I went to the grocery store when I was in upstate New York last week and I was astounded by the price of fresh produce. Prices were so high that I found it difficult to buy anything at all. I told my boyfriend that he could no longer make snide comments about the price of groceries in my town if this was any representation of the prices he was paying. When I got back home and went to the grocery store I discovered that our prices had also escalated in the two weeks since I’d been gone. Granny Smith apples were 4 for $1. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen apples individually priced before. Plain old green zucchini was $2.59 a pound! Just a month or so ago all the backyard farmers were begging people to take their zucchini. Now I wish I’d accepted some.

I assume the majority of these price increases can be attributed to higher fuel costs. I don’t expect the recent drop in gas prices to last. In fact, I expect prices to exceed the highs we were seeing just a few weeks ago. If I’m right about that, does it mean that these higher food prices are here to stay? If they are, then we need to come up with some strategies to cope. Shopping locally at the farmer’s market is always a good way to buy cheaper, better produce but what do you do in the winter? What do you do if you have no farmer’s market? In small rural towns like mine, there are no winter farmer’s markets. While I’m still forging ahead with my plan to grow a small crop in Subterrania, I have no illusions about solving my produce problems that way! I’m a near vegetarian so the price of fresh produce takes a big toll on my grocery budget. I eat a lot of grains and legumes so perhaps I’ll soon be eating more.

Winter is good for soups, which always stretch the budget. Stock up on meat when it’s marked down and fill your freezer. Roast a chicken, serve the legs and thighs with lots of beans and rice for dinner one night. Strip the meat off the breasts and make enchiladas for another night. Put the carcass in a pot and make stock. Not enough meat left for a whole meal? Make a stir-fry. It’s time to brush off on some of these timeless tips for stretching our grocery budgets.

Scrimp, save, stretch. I don’t know the answer but as I figure it out, I will share and I hope you will do the same. How are you dealing with rising food costs?

Note: I'm very proud to announce that tomorrow I will be hosting the 83rd Carnival of Money Stories. This will be my first carnival and I am working hard to make it a good one. There have been lots of great submissions so I hope you'll come back and check it out.