Up, Up, and Away
In my first posting, last December, I quoted the government projection that food costs were expected to rise in 2012 at a rate equal to that of 2011, about 4%. I was skeptical then, because the price of many items, chiefly dairy and frozen, had risen sharply in the preceding weeks, camouflaged by the holiday sale items. 4% seemed very conservative estimate for that year and, if the trend continued, even more so for this one. By June I was a bit complacent, there had been no drastic spikes and some things had even come down. Then came the drought with consequences that can alter food supplies for years to come. Now there’s been hurricane Isaac, which will definitely hike prices for, at least, the next few months.
The drought, as I reported recently, decimated crops making feed scarce and driving the cost of what was harvested way up. This has resulted in a further culling of the herds, and of poultry flocks as well. It’s estimated that beef prices will go upwards of a dollar a pound on cuts across the board. There is no information on the future of poultry and dairy products, as yet.
Hurricane Isaac caused gas prices to rise, which will affect every aspect of food production from the use of farm equipment to the transport to market, and by association, the cost to the customer of his drive to the store. It will all be reflected in the total price you pay for food. Coming right after the drought, the results may be harsh. Since the price hikes at the tank have been almost instantaneous, I don’t think we’ll have much time to brace ourselves either.
I’m curious about the rise of gas prices. They began, literally, within hours of the hurricane’s landfall, spiking as much as .15 cents in one day where I live. Surely there have been other hurricanes in the seven years since Katrina that briefly interrupted gulf drilling without such dire consequences. Moreover, I thought the calculations to set prices at the pump and communication to enact them nationally required, at the very least, a few days, possibly a week. I had also been given to understand that the Government had reserves that could be tapped in such contingencies. The timing is unfortunate. The economy needs to grow, and spending is required for that, but how can people spend when increasing amounts of their money must be allocated to gassing the car to get to work to afford ever higher food prices? Meanwhile, the only solace we’re given on fuel is that, if we hang in there for a couple of months, the cheaper “winter mix” will come to market.
However, my field is food, not fuel and I fear, of the two, in the near future, any relief, will come in fuel before it does in food, which at this point seems to be in shorter supply. In my Plan in this blog, I outline how to set a budget to fit your finances, and stick to it. One subject I don’t discuss in the plan, though, is waste, how to recognize and avoid the pitfalls, because waste can be more than leftovers on a plate.
A couple of months ago, I went to a casual dinner at a friend’s. She was just finishing a spinach dip when I arrived. She had made nearly a quart of it, put about 2 cups into a dish on a plate with crackers, and I put the rest in the fridge. When we were cleaning up, I asked for a container for the cold dip. My friend told me to leave it. If the family didn’t nibble on it the next day or use it the following evening, she usually threw it out. She had no optional uses. I suggested a spread or pasta sauce, but mainly reducing the recipe. My friend replied that she had doubled recipes, but didn’t know how to reduce one. She had stopped trying new recipes for over 4 servings, they either ate leftovers for days, or, if they didn’t like the dish, she threw it out and felt guilty. She wasn’t the first to tell me that either. A lesson in dividing recipes followed soon after.
The topic of waste reminds me of a neighbor I had several years age. Children gone, newly divorced, she threw herself into building her business and began spending two weeks out of every six traveling. The trouble was she never adjusted to shopping for one and that for short periods. Everyone in the neighborhood became used to receiving partially filled, multi pound bags of potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, oranges and so on, on a regular basis. Anything she might have opened or cut into like a melon, celery, lettuce, a loaf of bread, crackers or cereal, she threw away, usually a trash can full. We had barely finished one deluge, before she returned and began stocking up for another. After almost a year, some of us staged a quite intervention that included a short course in, again, how to reduce recipes and making proper shopping lists.
My third example of unintentionally wasting food is an experience I had with a pair of newlyweds. Her mother asked me to guide them through hosting their first large party, a buffet dinner. Both were enthusiastic cooks, but not planners. So after deciding on the menu, we all went shopping. The list went belly-up and I felt like a sheep dog trying to keep the flock together. When we got back to their home, I saw the results of their method of shopping. The fridge had to be cleaned out before we could put the new food away. Evidentially, they shopped both independently each planning menus as they went, and together proposing dinners and picking up anything that appealed to them. Neither had any idea of what they had on hand, and I never saw so many containers of food have to be scrapped, all of it quality products, much of it organic and/or gourmet. Most of it had been pushed to the rear of the shelves as new items were added, forgotten and left to spoil. The afternoon was a graphic experience for the couple as they realized the extravagance of their spending and the money represented by the amount of food in the trash. From then on, they planned menus together, checked with each other before shopping alone, and tried to limit their impulse buying. Last I heard, two children had dictated the menus and curbed the sprees, though traces of the old habits still remained, they were modified to prevent waste. Personally, I think two children and the economy had a lot to do with changing them.
None of these people were intentionally wasteful, they simply had food related challenges they hadn’t realized. My friend simply needed to don her “math hat”. With the aid of some specific equivalency charts, a set of measuring spoons, another of nesting smaller measuring cups, and two larger ones, a pint size and a quart, she could adjust recipe sizes, and was guilt-free to try all sorts of dishes without fear of overbuying or overspending.
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My neighbor too, admitted feeling guilty about the amounts of food she disposed of regularly. She liked having fresh ingredients on hand, but with her new busy life, she hadn’t taken the time to recalculate her changed shopping needs. She kept to her old buying pattern and as long as the cost was about the same, she didn’t think about it. Learning to draw up a menu plan, with a shopping list geared to her revised amount requirements, saved her time and a lot of money!
The newly-weds too, needed to learn to plot menus, to make detailed shopping lists and then to stick to them. They had to learn to communicate and coordinate their separate shopping sprees, and to control their impulse buying. They really got involved when they saw they could save enough money for other types of impulse buying, like electronics, and later for future needs. Money for things they could point to a week later, not spoiled food in the garbage can. I hope the planning helped prepare them for the children as well, because babies are strain on a budget if parents aren’t prepared to cope.
Though none of these people were dealing with the stress of rising prices, each of them realized they had been inadvertently wasting food which equals wasting money. By not calculating and paying attention to their individual grocery supply requirements, they were letting a substantial amount of money “slip through the cracks.” For us, faced with the certainty of soaring prices, it’s important to review our buying habits and “plug the holes and caulk the seams” to keep the boat afloat.
Get yourself the measuring tools the spoons, and cups I bought my friend, but above all, get a detailed equivalent chart. There’s one for free download on my book website dinnerswithjoy.com. Calculate what you need for the number of portions you want to make from a recipe. Don’t be afraid to divide a recipe to avoid leftovers, unless you have a plan for them.
Resist the urge to over buy. I can’t count the times I’ve been tempted by the sale price of the larger size of an item on my list, but I’ve never regretted resisting, especially with produce. If onions are $2.50 for 5lbs. and $1.99 for 3lbs. the larger size is a saving, but it’s a no win if half the larger amount sprouts in the bag before you use them. My neighbor learned that often, say for potatoes, she saved money by buying just the few she would use, despite the single price. So even the bulk produce items bought in bags, apples, potatoes, onions, oranges, should be purchased with a definite scheme for use in mind. Perhaps that scheme covers two weeks for these items, depending on the size of your family. One thing to avoid, though, is replenishing a supply and not using the old before you open the new. The old will then sit, and become money down the drain. This same rule applies to canned goods. Excess usually ends up in containers in the fridge becoming forgotten then moldy. Another waste of money!
I’ve repeated it constantly, and it’s the backbone of my plan for wise meal planning, setting up a menu then drawing a detailed shopping list from it and adhering to it are vital to controlling expenses. For this reason, it’s best if only one person does the shopping. If two do it, they have to be on the same page. There should be no quick stops or runs to a market for forgotten items. That leads to impulse buying. For the same reason, try to avoid taking children with you. They are all about impulse, and disrupt your concentration. If you do take them, see if there’s a Dollar Store near and get them a distraction first. I found apples helped too.
On the other hand AN impulse buy can be a great morale booster and incentive to stick to a specific list, so long as it won’t cause guilt later by being too expensive or useless. It’s one of the tools I advise using in The Plan to motivate people to stay on track. The trick is to find ways to save enough money from your weekly shopping list to buy something you want. It’s the old idea of the carrot and the stick. You set a goal, either a small item, like swapping a generic brand for a name one, or buying the ice cream on sale, rather than your favorite to afford a box of cookies, or a lipstick for Mom. to getting the whole family to agree to cut out snacks until you have enough for a new electronic, or just a night out. The best part is once you’ve earned the first “reward” you’ll feel so proud of yourself you’ll be game to go for a second.
There isn’t much we can do about prices, if they balloon as expected, but we can do something about how we prepare to meet them. We can take the time to learn quantities, and how to divide recipes into the amounts we want, to avoid leftovers, unless we know they will be eaten. We can analyze our family’s rate of consumption to avoid overbuying. We can remind ourselves to use what we have before buying more, because wasted food IS wasted money. Finally, we can keep our spirits up by finding ways to afford a “splurge” on a regular basis.
