Food Price Watch Thread

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caltrek
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Beef and Pork Producers are Earning Less While Meat Consumers are Paying More than a Year Ago
by Kendall Little
June 30, 2022

Introduction:
(Investigate Midwest) While consumers are paying high prices for beef and pork at grocery stores, farmers producing the meat are making less than they were a year ago, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The number of cattle and hogs have all fallen since 2021, according to the USDA, which may explain the increased consumer price. If the amount of product decreases but consumer demand stays the same, prices will increase for consumers.

Also, producers have to go through a middleman — the meatpacking companies — instead of selling directly to consumers, which may limit the amount of profit they can make.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures the change in how much producers are making for their products over time while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change in how much consumers are paying for products.
The article includes a graph showing “the PPI and CPI percent changes from May 2021 to May 2022.”

Read more here: https://investigatemidwest.org/2022/06 ... year-ago/
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caltrek
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UN: 2.3 billion people severely or moderately hungry in 2021
July 6, 2022

Introduction:
UNITED NATIONS (AP via Courthouse News) - World hunger rose in 2021, with around 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat — and that was before the Ukraine war, which has sparked increases in the cost of grain, fertilizer and energy, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” paints a grim picture, based on 2021 data, saying the statistics “should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms.”

“The most recent evidence available suggests that the number of people unable to afford a healthy diet around the world rose by 112 million to almost 3.1 billion, reflecting the impacts of rising consumer food prices during the (COVID-19) pandemic,” the heads of five U.N. agencies that published the report said in the forward.

They warned that the war in Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, “is disrupting supply chains and further affecting prices of grain, fertilizer and energy” resulting in more price increases in the first half of 2022. At the same time, they said, more frequent and extreme climate events are also disrupting supply chains, especially in low-income countries.

Ukraine and Russia together accounted for almost a third of the world’s wheat and barley exports and half of its sunflower oil, while Russia and its ally Belarus are the world’s No. 2 and 3 producers of potash, a key ingredient of fertilizer.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/un-2-3- ... -in-2021/
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caltrek
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Trendspotting: Summer Brings Record-high Produce Prices
by Craig Levitt
July 7, 2022

Introduction:
(The Produce News) Nothing says summer quite like cherries, and with cherries leading the way, the summer’s overall produce markets continue to explode with record-high prices, according to ProduceIQ (https://www.produceiq.com/).

“Most prices rose during the July 4th pull,” said Mark Campbell, founder and CEO of ProduceIQ. “Only a few commodity prices, such as tomatoes and avocados, declined.”

Also in short supply, broccoli prices are up 19 percent over the previous week. “Late June’s heat wave in California is lessening available yields and forcing prices to surge higher,” said Campbell. “Reported volume out of Salinas, CA, is significantly down over previous years. Temperatures are forecasted to improve over the coming weeks, though supply and market prices may take more time to stabilize.”

Broccoli markets aren’t the only produce commodity unsettled by the recent heat wave. Iceberg and Romaine markets are predictably unsettled; however, prices are seeing comparatively modest increases due to softer demand.

“Most Californian lettuce and leaf growers are reporting quality issues like tip burn and discoloration,” said Campbell. “Prices are on the higher end of the historical price spectrum but are nowhere near the record-breaking territory. As supply recovers, markets are forecasted to remain active for the next two weeks.”
Read more here: https://theproducenews.com/headlines/ ... e-prices
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caltrek
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Potato, Onion Markets Rising on a Tight Supply
by Ron Pelger
July 6, 2022

Introduction:
(Produce News) The potato and onion markets are currently erratic. Supplies are decreasing, creating some gapping. Unless your produce operation has a contract commitment with a supplier, it may be difficult to see full orders being totally filled on arrivals.

POTATOES

Idaho: Potatoes are experiencing an extremely limited supply. Idaho Russet Burbank demand exceeds the supply. Markets will be higher until the new crop is available. Some sheds are gapping and running only three days a week. But the new crop outlook is very promising as the growing conditions have been outstanding. The harvest is estimated for early August.
Further extract:
ONIONS
Heavy rain in New Mexico and a gap in California are causing a tight market. This has caused orders to back up. There is a supply reduction forcing the market to increase.
Read more here: https://theproducenews.com/headlines/p ... -supply
Last edited by caltrek on Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Food Price Watch Thread

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I promise you that the party in power is going to get blamed for this! What are they doing? Closing down American oil fields and killing offshore drilling. Dumb.
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caltrek
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weatheriscool wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 9:58 pm I promise you that the party in power is going to get blamed for this! What are they doing? Closing down American oil fields and killing offshore drilling. Dumb.
Ummm....this is a thread about food prices, not oil prices. I think that it has been established in this thread that rising food prices are due to the war in the Ukraine and extreme weather events, not increased oil prices.
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Inflation surges 9.1% in June, most since November 1981

Alexandra Semenova · Reporter
Wed, July 13, 2022, 8:32 AM

U.S. consumer prices in June accelerated at the fastest annual pace since November 1981. ... The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflected a year-over-year increase of 9.1% last month, up from the prior 40-year high of 8.6% in May. Economists were expecting June's reading to show an 8.8% increase, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

On a monthly basis, the broadest measure of inflation rose at a pace of 1.3%, inching up from 1% in May and climbing at a faster tempo than the 1.1% climb economists had projected. This marked the largest monthly increase since 2005.

U.S. stocks were slammed early Wednesday following the hotter-than-expected print. The S&P 500 dropped 1.3% at the open, while the Nasdaq shed 1.7%, and the Dow fell 1.1%.

The continued surge in inflation across the U.S. economy was elevated by broad-based increases, including high food costs and record gasoline prices, which topped more than $5 per gallon at the pump last month.
{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/june-cpi ... 33961.html
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caltrek wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 12:46 pm
weatheriscool wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 9:58 pm I promise you that the party in power is going to get blamed for this! What are they doing? Closing down American oil fields and killing offshore drilling. Dumb.
Ummm....this is a thread about food prices, not oil prices. I think that it has been established in this thread that rising food prices are due to the war in the Ukraine and extreme weather events, not increased oil prices.
Energy... it's almost always energy. https://blogs.worldbank.org/trade/cost- ... ces-follow
And, as always, bye bye.
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caltrek
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Re: Food Price Watch Thread

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R8Z wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:40 am
caltrek wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 12:46 pm
weatheriscool wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 9:58 pm I promise you that the party in power is going to get blamed for this! What are they doing? Closing down American oil fields and killing offshore drilling. Dumb.
Ummm....this is a thread about food prices, not oil prices. I think that it has been established in this thread that rising food prices are due to the war in the Ukraine and extreme weather events, not increased oil prices.
Energy... it's almost always energy. https://blogs.worldbank.org/trade/cost- ... ces-follow
From the item linked by R8Z:
Indeed, as we found in a recent World Bank study, oil prices were more important to food prices than several other long-term price drivers, including exchange rates, interest rates and income.
So, this was in comparison to factors such as exchange rates and interest rates. Not mentioned as a comparison factor are the war in the Ukraine and extreme weather. Again, as established in this thread, these are major causes.

There is also the issue of final cause versus proximate cause. Even if rising oil prices is a factor, what is the major cause of such rises in prices?

Wait for it...

Why the Ukrainian war. Fancy that.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Food Price Watch Thread

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Long lines are back at US food banks as inflation hits high
Source: Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Long lines are back at food banks around the U.S. as working Americans overwhelmed by inflation turn to handouts to help feed their families.

With gas prices soaring along with grocery costs, many people are seeking charitable food for the first time, and more are arriving on foot.

Inflation in the U.S. is at a 40-year high and gas prices have been surging since April 2020, with the average cost nationwide briefly hitting $5 a gallon in June. Rapidly rising rents and an end to federal COVID-19 relief have also taken a financial toll.

The food banks, which had started to see some relief as people returned to work after pandemic shutdowns, are struggling to meet the latest need even as federal programs provide less food to distribute, grocery store donations wane and cash gifts don’t go nearly as far.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hungerfoodba ... e2b73df006
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