Food Prices Down For Last Quarter Of 2008
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
As we’ve written about before nvfbblog.org/categories/Food%20Prices.aspx , the concept of food prices being an issue in our country was something of a marvel that will mark 2008 as being quite unusual. Even though the food items in consumer grocery carts edged upward, on a quarterly basis for most of 2008, the information has now been tallied and according to the American Farm Bureau Federation their final shopping survey of the year, shows a decline of about 1 percent from the totals from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. AFBF News release: www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=newsroom.newsfocus&year=2009&file=nr0107.html
The totals for food items purchased around the country (133 shoppers in 37 states), ended up at $48.19 – down 49 cents from the purchases made of the same items in September of 2008.
In looking at 2008 and the graph of retail food prices, the end of the year level was up 7 percent from the mark from the first quarter’s price level. The federal government’s Consumer Price Index documents a 6 percent increase for all food during the same time frame. (This would show a pretty solid level of creditability for the results of the Farm Bureau shopping basket survey process)
It’s is also very worthy of note that the portion of the total food prices, which goes to farmers and rancher is about 19 percent – a figure that has steadily gone lower over the years.
Even though it was interests, which included food retailers, who were raising a fuss over the increases in food prices (going back to about June of 2008) and ranting about how we needed to stop using our agricultural commodities in alternative fuel production – food prices haven’t come down, despite dramatic declines in oil prices and farm commodity prices.
We’re told that when retail food prices go up – they tend to stay up longer than other consumer items. The concept of “sticky prices” may be something of a normal expectation for economists, but those of us who watched the public relations media manipulation over this past summer Focus: http://fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=newsroom.focusfocus&year=2008&file=fo1229.html and now see how it’s all just supposed to be fine and dandy that the prices take some time to come back down…we might think of it differently.
The one perspective that we have and hope to continue to stress for better understanding with others – we are very fortunate to live and shop for food in a country of abundance. Our food dollar is well-spent in not only “value terms” (for what we get) but, also in relation to quality, safety and variety.
As we’ve written about before nvfbblog.org/categories/Food%20Prices.aspx , the concept of food prices being an issue in our country was something of a marvel that will mark 2008 as being quite unusual. Even though the food items in consumer grocery carts edged upward, on a quarterly basis for most of 2008, the information has now been tallied and according to the American Farm Bureau Federation their final shopping survey of the year, shows a decline of about 1 percent from the totals from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. AFBF News release: www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=newsroom.newsfocus&year=2009&file=nr0107.html
The totals for food items purchased around the country (133 shoppers in 37 states), ended up at $48.19 – down 49 cents from the purchases made of the same items in September of 2008.
In looking at 2008 and the graph of retail food prices, the end of the year level was up 7 percent from the mark from the first quarter’s price level. The federal government’s Consumer Price Index documents a 6 percent increase for all food during the same time frame. (This would show a pretty solid level of creditability for the results of the Farm Bureau shopping basket survey process)
It’s is also very worthy of note that the portion of the total food prices, which goes to farmers and rancher is about 19 percent – a figure that has steadily gone lower over the years.
Even though it was interests, which included food retailers, who were raising a fuss over the increases in food prices (going back to about June of 2008) and ranting about how we needed to stop using our agricultural commodities in alternative fuel production – food prices haven’t come down, despite dramatic declines in oil prices and farm commodity prices.
We’re told that when retail food prices go up – they tend to stay up longer than other consumer items. The concept of “sticky prices” may be something of a normal expectation for economists, but those of us who watched the public relations media manipulation over this past summer Focus: http://fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=newsroom.focusfocus&year=2008&file=fo1229.html and now see how it’s all just supposed to be fine and dandy that the prices take some time to come back down…we might think of it differently.
The one perspective that we have and hope to continue to stress for better understanding with others – we are very fortunate to live and shop for food in a country of abundance. Our food dollar is well-spent in not only “value terms” (for what we get) but, also in relation to quality, safety and variety.
Comments