The most recent commodity reports show rising prices on flour, sugar, eggs and shortening due to steady demand and tight supplies. If you are low on these food storage staples, buy what you can afford. Sugar has risen from $48.60 / cwt in April 2010 to $61.00/ cwt in April 2011. It may take some time for prices to stabilize, so if you can find any decent sales on these items, replenish (or build) your supply.
Too much rain in the corn areas has delayed planting, so only a record corn crop will keep the supply from being depleted next year. Watch for case-lot sales on canned and frozen corn if your family enjoys this vegetable. I also store freeze-dried corn, which is compact and light-weight, retains the most nutrition, and rehydrates with sweet flavor.
With steadily increasing fuel prices, we are starting to see people cut back on their miles driven and some companies are charging higher delivery fees. It’s a good time to inventory your food storage supplies, see where items may be lacking and search for the best prices to replenish your supply. Consider whether your inventory has all of the ingredients for meals your family enjoys. Higher fuel costs will lead to rising food prices in general.
Be prepared, not fearful!
So just an fyi – I went ahead and bought backup bags of flour and sugar (ok, my husband bought them 🙂 ) and flour was $3.20 more per 50 lb. bag and sugar was up a whopping $5.70!! (I think that was also a 50 lb. bag.)
p.s. that was 7/17/2010 vs. 5/4/2011
I know! Can you believe it? I’m pretty confident things will come back down, like when powdered milk doubled (we bought high in the panic). This is just another big reason why it pays to have a well-rounded food storage supply.