why food prices are rising and a solution

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Not surprisingly, the U.S. bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that food prices rose sharply over the past year and will continue to rise. Isn’t this something we should expect every year?

Our food system will always have rising prices when…

  1. It is dependent on oil to transport. Oil is a finite resource. As this resource becomes more scarce it will cost more and countries will wage wars.
  2. It is dependent on oil to grow. Whether we are talking conventional GMO corn or Earth Bound Organic spinach, large machinery who run on gas are required in all large scale farming. Any time a farm becomes too big for manual labor you will have unsustainable, expensive food.
  3. It becomes a precious commodity when we are unable to grow it ourselves. Supply and demand hold true as much with food as it does with a precious metal. In a society where growing or raising your own food is an anomaly because we simply do not take the time or hold the knowledge to do so then it will become increasingly expensive to purchase. And as oil becomes more scarce we will see that our food supply has been propped up and we will be forced to return to how most of history ate: the majority will grow their own and only the rich will outsource.

This is Why…

  • We are trying to become less dependent on the grocery store.
  • We want to grow and preserve our own food.
  • We want to relearn forgotten skills of land stewardship, animal husbandry, and home-based productivity.
  • I, as the home cook, want to learn how to use foods in season from my local farmer and my own backyard.
  • I am writing a cookbook that will help you do the above this winter. (eek I can’t believe I just said that out loud.)

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14 Comments

    1. John – Well, I’m not much of a green thumb myself. I am more involved in the kitchen aspect – preserving and preparing the food rather than growing it.

  2. Congrats! We will be eagerly awaiting your book! I have a quick question on homemade sauerkraut. I have had success in the past with some delicious homemade kraut, but lately, it is spoiling in the jar. I shred the cabbage, pour 2 tablespoons of sea salt over it, pound it, put it in a jar, fill with filtered water, and seal the jar. What am I doing wrong all of the sudden?

    1. Melissa – I wonder if the unsalted water is causing it to spoil. This would dilute the brine created by salting and pounding the cabbage. Try salting and bashing cabbage until it releases a ton of juice (i have also placed a plate and weights on top to accomplish this). Then jar the kraut and press it down with the back of a clean hand until the liquid comes over the top.

  4. I love the sounds of that book! I was thinking the other day that if something happened in this country and we couldn’t afford to buy food, would I know how to grow my own? Not hardly. But I want to learn!! Let us know when your book comes out!

  7. Can I just say… me too! Looking forward to reading your book on using foods in season. One of my goals is to grow everything we eat… maybe not possible but we’ve already cut out alot of what we used to buy. One step at a time…

  8. Melissa, I don’t add water to my jar of saurkraut. I pound it to get the juices out. Then when I put it in a jar I push down so the juices cover it. I don’t know if that helps.

    Shannon, your cookbook sounds interesting. I might have to get it.

  10. Great reminder about how important it is to conserve resources, including food.

    While researching for an essay about the food shortage of 2008, I learned a lot about how interconnected the whole food supply system is, and now with the advent of biofuels which consume food crops like corn and wheat, how intertwined international food and fuel markets are.

    Remember when export restrictions on rice had Costco limiting the number of bags of rice you could buy? It’s pretty scary how reliant the world is now on a few major food processing nations and how the poorest people of all in developing countries are suffering the most because of the global rise in food prices.

    Even if you don’t care about eating less-processed foods, everyone should read a bit about this growing problem and start thinking about how to become less wasteful of food and fuel (and of the products of fuel-dependent industries, including plastics production) and become more self-sufficient.

  11. Thank you for your thoughts on bio-fuels and food. It concerns me more that we are not growing our own food in our own gardens. With big chemical companies patenting and monopolizing the GMO seed industry, its more important than ever, for we the consumer to learn to grow and preserve our own “heirloom” seeds. It has been said that “whoever controls the seeds controls the food supply.” Bill Gates is involved w/ Monsanto and Dow to name a few in building the “Doomsday Seed Vault” in Norway. What does he know that we don’t? Other countries also have seed vaults-like Russia, China, Japan etc. Heirloom seeds are seeds that you can grow and get the seed to start another garden the next year. They are available – you just have to look for them. Most seeds on the market are hybrids that cannot reproduce their own seeds for the next year- making you dependent on buying seeds every year.
    The seeds that America so wonderfully donates to other starving countries-
    currently Africa, are all GMO seeds which are labeled “drought- resistant”. They are owned by big chemical companies. The crops will require
    their unhealthy Round-up and seeds that do not reproduce. It makes the poor
    people reliant on the company as they line their pockets! The seeds they provide are genetically modified and are Round-up resistant! Do you want to eat that? Due to seed patenting, these companies have run good old honest
    farm business’s out of the market if they did not buy their seed.
    If you are new at trying your luck at gardening, get the book Square Foot Gardner or if out of space and live in an apt.? Do container gardening!

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