Food Price Watch Thread

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Food Insufficiency Up 25% Since Manchin, GOP Killed Child Tax Credit Boost
by Jessica Corbett
October 21, 2022

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) A Boston-based research team on Friday reiterated the negative effects of ending the expanded child tax credit by releasing a study that shows a huge jump in U.S. households not having enough food.

The expanded child tax credit (CTC) in the American Rescue Plan gave over 35 million U.S. families up to $300 a month per child until it expired last December, and congressional Republicans and right-wing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposed continuing it.

Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the new study focuses on food insufficiency, "a marker for economic strain… defined by household lack of enough food to eat in the last seven days."

Researchers at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) found that ending the monthly payments "was associated with a 25% increase in household food insufficiency by early July 2022 compared with the period just before CTC expiration."

Lead author Allison Bovell-Ammon said in a statement that "this significant increase in food insufficiency among families with children is particularly concerning for child health equity, as child health, development, and educational outcomes are strongly linked to their family's ability to afford enough food."
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... dit-boost
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Global Food Companies Pay Shareholders £15 Billion as Millions Face Poverty
by Adam Bychawski
November 28, 2022

Introduction:
(OpenDemocracy) The world’s biggest food companies have paid out nearly £15bn to shareholders as spiralling prices leave desperate families struggling to afford to eat, openDemocracy can reveal.

Nestlé, Unilever, Associated British Foods, Mondelez and Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) have raked in £20bn in profits in the space of a year while all raising average food prices.

Four of the five multinationals – which between them own thousands of popular brands such as Twinings, Kingsmill and Cheerios – have also signalled that consumers should expect further price rises. Only ADM has not.

The firms’ profits would be enough to fill the £9.8bn funding gap twice over that is currently facing the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) – which aims to provide food for 160 million people facing poverty by the end of the year. The WFP said it costs 44% more for it to buy food than it did in 2020.

The bonanza for food corporations comes amid a 40% increase in the number of people in the UK forced to turn to food banks since April, according to the Trussell Trust. The charity, which supports food banks nationwide, has warned it can no longer rely on donations to meet rising demand for emergency food parcels.
Read more here: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/food- ... mondelez/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
funkervogt
Posts: 1171
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:03 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by funkervogt »

This prediction from last June was wrong. It just seems like the well-credentialed experts can't get anything right!
“There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022,” he said in a video message to officials from dozens of rich and developing countries gathered in Berlin. “And 2023 could be even worse.”
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... f23286f246
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

funkervogt wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:02 pm This prediction from last June was wrong. It just seems like the well-credentialed experts can't get anything right!
“There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022,” he said in a video message to officials from dozens of rich and developing countries gathered in Berlin. “And 2023 could be even worse.”
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... f23286f246
In the absence of real time good data, it is hard to say whether or not these predictions were all that far off. It may also be the case that these alerts resulted in effective responses which helped avoid the worse-case scenarios that were being warned against. I doubt it, but again, in the absence of a good fact-based analysis...
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

Egg Prices Have More Than Tripled in Some States Over the Last Year. Here's Why
by Khristopher J Brooks
Updated January 11, 2023

Introduction:
(CBS) The rising cost of eggs in the U.S. is denting household budgets. Americans in recent years have increased the number of eggs they consume while reducing their intake of beef and venison, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Egg consumption has grown in part because more families are eating them as their main protein substitute, Los Angeles Times reporter Sonja Sharp told CBS News. "Each of us eats about as many eggs as one hen can lay a year," she said.

As demand for eggs has risen, production in the U.S. has slumped because of the ongoing bird, or "avian," flu epidemic. Nearly 58 million birds have been infected with avian flu as of January 6, the USDA said, making it the deadliest outbreak in U.S. history. Infected birds must be slaughtered, causing egg supplies to fall and prices to surge.

Families and restaurants alike are now paying elevated prices for eggs as the outbreak impacts 47 states.

In California, for example, data shows the average price for a dozen eggs reached $7.37 last week, compared with $2.35 a year ago. The national average egg price per dozen wholesale is now $3.30, the USDA said last week. The average price for a dozen eggs by U.S. city grew to a record $3.58 in November, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Read more here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eggs-pric ... bird-flu/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Egg prices rose 60% in 2022. Farm group claims 'collusive scheme' by suppliers
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/23/high-eg ... laims.html

Egg prices soared to historically high levels in 2022 — and one group is alleging the trend is due to something more nefarious than simple economics.

Across all egg types, consumers saw average prices jump 60% last year — among the largest percentage increases of any U.S. good or service, according to the consumer price index, an inflation measure.

The industry narrative has largely focused on a historic outbreak of avian influenza — which has killed tens of millions of egg-laying hens — as the primary driver of those higher prices.

But Farm Action, a farmer-led advocacy group, claims the “real culprit” is a “collusive scheme” among major egg producers to fix and gouge prices, the group said in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission.

Doing so has helped producers “extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40%,” according to the letter, issued Thursday, which asks FTC Chair Lina Khan to investigate for potential profiteering and “foul play.”
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Egg price spike prompts demands for price-gouging probe
Source: raw story

January 24, 2023 / 6:31 PM / CBS/AP

With egg prices more than doubling in the past year, calls are coming for an investigation into possible price gouging.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed sent a letter Tuesday asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether egg prices have been improperly manipulated by producers. A farmer-led advocacy group called Farm Action made a similar request last week arguing that there "appears to be a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits."

Egg prices have soared 60% in a year. Here's why.
Customs officials are seizing eggs at the U.S.-Mexico border

The spike in egg prices has been attributed to the millions of chickens that were slaughtered to limit the spread of bird flu and farmers having to compensate for inflation driving up their costs......................
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/egg-prices ... eed-probe/
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Adult Happy Meals, McRib, feed McDonald's sales in Q4
Source: Associated Press/DEE-ANN DURBIN
Adult Happy Meals and other limited-time promotions boosted traffic at McDonald’s restaurants during the fourth quarter despite higher prices. But the company warned that inflation __ particularly in Europe __ will continue to weigh on its operations this year.

Global same-store sales __ or sales at stores open at least a year __ rose 12.6% in the October-December period, the Chicago company said Tuesday. That beat Wall Street expectations for an 8.8% increase, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

U.S. same-store sales rose 10.3%. Sales soared in October after McDonald’s launched adult Happy Meals featuring limited-edition toys designed by the streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market. Half of the toys for those meals were gone in the first four days of the promotion.

A “farewell tour” for the cult favorite McRib sandwich drew in more U.S. customers in November and World Cup promotions fueled double-digit increases in delivery sales in McDonald’s ten largest markets.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/mcdonalds-co ... baabaa279a
weatheriscool
Posts: 12946
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

High Egg Prices Send Profits at Largest US Producer Soaring More Than 700%
Source: CNN

Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States, reported revenue doubled and profit surged 718% last quarter because of sharply higher egg prices. The company, which controls about 20% of the US egg market according to Reuters, said its average selling price for a dozen eggs in the quarter ending February 25 was $3.30, more than double the average of $1.61 a year earlier. Despite the higher prices, the total number of eggs it sold edged up 1%, so its overall revenue rose 109% to $997.5 million.

That doubling of revenue was nothing compared to its profits, however. Net income soared to $323.2 million from only $39.5 million a year ago. The jump in revenue and profit had been expected but easily topped forecasts. Shares of Cal-Maine (CALM) were up 4% in premarket trading.

Eggland's Best eggs are seen at the company's research facility in Pennsylvania. Surging egg prices mean record profits for largest US egg producer
A deadly and highly infectious avian flu has forced US farmers to kill millions of egg-laying hens, reducing the country’s egg supply and driving up prices. But Cal-Maine said in its earnings statement that there have been no positive tests for avian flu at any of its owned or contracted production facilities.

Egg producers’ pricing decisions have been criticized by some politicians, who accuse them of profiteering and price gouging.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/business ... index.html
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Food Price Watch Thread

Post by caltrek »

An ideal price of food would be $0.00. We can start with children attending school.

Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply