You may have heard recently that the cost of food will be rising again. You may have also heard that this is just not the case and a scare tactic by those trying to sell you something. Prices really are going up on food, believe it. I can give you an example very close to home, almonds. You may not realize the bulk of the world’s almond supply comes from California. This year we had a cooler than normal summer which lead to a late harvest. We had an early rain which led to almond damage as many very still on the trees and not yet safely stored in warehouses. This is a problem as the almonds will rot if not properly dried. This adds to the cost as it is another step which must be taken before the nuts can be sold. Now, this may not seem like much of a problem as almonds are more of a luxury food, but the ramifications are tremendous. Do you normally purchase candy as gifts or as holiday treats? They contain California almonds even if they come from Italy or Switzerland. Almonds are in breakfast cereals, breads, breadings, Thanksgiving stuffing and much, much more. Almond milk is consumed by many with milk allergies. The final kicker is that the Chinese are buying up large quantities of both almonds and walnuts further forcing up prices on both almonds and walnuts.
With the growing wealth of the Chinese government they are now purchasing more and more food which would normally have been part of the food chain we depend upon. Many apple orchards have been pulled out the past few year because China is now producing cheap apples for export. Can you believe we are buying apples from China?
Last year we had lengthy “discussions” here about the federal government limiting water to farmers in California. This has left many without jobs and has created a dust bowl on farms where some of the best soil in the nation once existed. If this continues what do you think will happen to food prices?
In the United States 99% of all almonds and walnuts, 93% of broccoli, 89% of carrots, 94 % of tomatoes, 95% of apricots, 90% of strawberries, 93% of nectarines, 100% of olives and olive oil, 93% of plums, 78% of lettuce, 84% of avocados, 82% of dates, 98% of figs, 97% of kiwi, and 89% of lemons come from California. Still think it’s no big deal? Maybe we can do without purchasing figs but go without pizza? Yes, the price of pizza will go up as the price of tomatoes which are used to make pizza sauce goes up. Don’t be fooled. Food prices are going up.
We haven’t even begun to consider that the price of wheat is up 47% due to infestation and poor weather conditions in foreign nations. Those people have to eat too and they will pay more to get our wheat, thus our price goes up as well.
Recently Glenn Beck has been advocating storing food. No matter how you feel about his politics he is certainly right about this! I hope someone will direct him to our General Store.We all need to be stocking our own in home store now! Prices will not go down and your General Store will be your best investment and yield the greatest return on your money going forward. As you will need to replace items you can then buy only when they are on sale, thus always shopping at last year’s prices. But it’s not just about food.
Did you hear the news yesterday that cotton prices are due to increase by 30%? That means clothing, blankets, curtains, furniture (upholstery), TP, swabs, bandages, will all go up in price. Cotton seed hulls are used for animal feed so meat prices will rise. Now, some of these products will rise a few cents and be almost unnoticeable by themselves but add up 5 cents per roll of TP and 5 cents per pound of meat and 5 cents per feminine hygiene products and you can see over the course of a year you are talking real money.
If you are serious about saving money stock that General Store. When tough times come you will be prepared to meet your own needs, help others, and barter for items you may need. You will be in control as you will have the items more valuable than gold; food, medical items, fuel, and many other supplies which will be in demand. Join us every Monday as we stock our shelves. Now is the time to prepare, before you need it!
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Back issues: Totally Ready Newsletters July 2009- June 2010
