Cost of food skyrocketing - $9 for a pound of bacon?

[CowboyCO]

Anybody else notice food staples skyrocketing? I was at Safeway this weekend and there was one brand of bacon that was $9/lb! Even regular Oscar Mayer is running $6.99 a pound.

DW and I have started looking for close to expiration date clearance packages and buuying them and freezing them. If this economy doesn't turn around, I'm going to start wearing bacon around my neck and trading it...

 

[leadfootlevi]

The price of bacon has pretty much eliminated it from our diet. We love bacon!

 

[java]

Around here you used to get it for 2 pounds for $5. Now it's 2.99 a pound. Not terrible and we do love our bacon. But we use it more as an ingredient vs. making bacon.

 

[amez]

I've complained about the same thing to my husband--bacon has gotten really expensive. It's odd because the price of hogs just doesn't seem that high to account for what they are charging for bacon.

However we just bought a hog from our butcher and our freezer is packed full of bacon (and a huge variety of other cuts) for a much more reasonable price.

 

[CTdiznymom]

Did you look to see if it was even a full pound? With the packaging getting smaller and the prices getting higher it's a real battle keeping the grocery bill down and the fridge filled.

 

[pigletto]

We're paying about 3.99 on sale around here so I quit buying it. We don't need it anyway.
But 9.00? Holy smokes!!

 

[Nik's Mom]

It's not just bacon. A head of lettuce was $2.99 at my local grocery store this weekend. You used to be able to find it for 99 cents.

 

[njmomtoone]

I used to pay $6.99 for four, one pound pkg of butter at BJ's. Price went up to $7.59 and saw on Saturday is now $10.29.

 

[OceanAnnie]

It's not just bacon. A head of lettuce was $2.99 at my local grocery store this weekend. You used to be able to find it for 99 cents.

You aren't kidding! I'm doing a double take all the time! It's everything. The "sales" on food don't even bring the cost to what they used to be on some items. It's crazy! A few weeks ago I could get an avocado for .99 for one. Now they are $1.24. That might not seem like a lot, but when you add up the increase on so many items it is.

 

[puffkin]

I'd hardly consider bacon a staple....

However, prices have been ridiculous for tons of stuff around me lately. Luckily I am pretty adaptable at shopping what is affordable and making meals from that. I can't even tell you the last time we bought grapes (not happening at over $2 lb )

 

[wvjules]

Is bacon a staple?

Anyhow, we get the Oscar Meyer Center Cut bacon. That's our favorite so we pay what we need to pay to get it. I'm not sure what our tipping point will be on purchasing it in the future though.

We will not give up our Sunday morning bacon and pancake/waffle breakfasts.

 

[Planogirl]

Tomatoes are what's killing me. I love tomatoes and normally eat a lot of them but I won't pay $3 a pound for them.

I wish that our salaries were going up as quickly as prices.

 

[eliza61]

It's not just bacon. A head of lettuce was $2.99 at my local grocery store this weekend. You used to be able to find it for 99 cents.

You aren't kidding! I'm doing a double take all the time! It's everything. The "sales" on food don't even bring the cost to what they used to be on some items. It's crazy! A few weeks ago I could get an avocado for .99 for one. Now they are $1.24. That might not seem like a lot, but when you add up the increase on so many items it is.

Remember guys, especially for us still hanging onto winter.
A lot of the produce we have now has been shipped in. Lettuce producing states here in the US have gotten socked by bad weather so trucking/shipping in from Chile.


I'm becoming a stock up queen. When I see bacon on sale for "buy one get one free" I'll literally stop at the store 3X's a week and buy the max. I have almost 10lbs in my freezer averaging 3.50 bucks a piece.

Last week shoprite had oscar mayer on sale for $1.99 lb. I went into the store so many times I swear they thought I was casing the joint. this week Acme has hormel black label bacon on sale for $4.49

 

[disneyfans95]

I am a hotel GM and I have seen our food costs for the restaurant and catering events go up 15% since the start of the year.

This is a killer for us with the catering events because you are locked into the price and can't make it up. The restaurant is easier, too a point.

The main reason we are seeing an increase is the cost of feed for the animals. That is making the price jump the biggest. That and potatoes are up the most.

 

[roscoepc1]

I'm just going to say that Americans are VERY spoiled when it comes to food prices and gas prices....from being on a lot of community boards etc over the years, and seeing lots of talk about groceries, etc, you guys have it far better than 90% of the world...not just the 3rd world!

In Canada, we've been paying $9+ for bacon for YEARS. It comes in 1/2 pound packages here...if I can find it for under $4 for one, I buy in bulk....otherwise we do without. Coupons are a joke here, "sales" mean about 10-25 cents off, not 50-90%....and it goes on and on....

The saddest part is, it isn't the farmers who are getting most of the money in either country...it's the middle-men...if you can find a good abbatoir, or make friends with farmers, it's not only much cheaper, the farmer gets ridiculously more of the money....

 

[ilovejack02]

We will not give up our Sunday morning bacon and pancake/waffle breakfasts.

Then yes it is a staple LOL.

My little local grocery normally runs Smithfield, 2.50 for 12 oz pack. I usually stock up and sometimes have coupons too , I am down to two packs, hoping it will go on sale this week or next. DS8 is obsessed with BLTS .

Nature's own whole wheat is running 3.50 a loaf at our local grocery , but Target has it on sale for 2.17, so I am going to run into town and load up . Unfortunately 2.17 is a raise in price, they used to run it 1.89 a loaf on sale. : (

I paid 1.44 for a single bell pepper the other day, I didn't pay attention when I picked it up at Walmart. All most died when I saw it ring up. I now have 5 bell pepper plants in my garden as do I have tomatoes. My child has been doing with out his beloved grape tomatoes because they are almost 4.00 a pint . UGHHHHHHHH

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I live in Canada and I have found all our grocery prices have gone up. It definitely affects what I buy and what we eat.

 

[happygirl]

Everything is going up

 

[ShariVT]

I do some of the ordering for my brothers resturant and bacon has gone up $15 a case. We are a small family business and these prices are nuts.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We don't eat much bacon at our house. When we do have it, we eat turkey bacon.

I do feel for my FIL though. He loves his big breakfasts and bacon is a big part of it. He has had to majorly cut down on his bacon eating.

I tried to do my grocery shopping this week based only on the sales flyer. It didn't work very well since the sales flyer seemed smaller than usual and it was mostly junk that was on sale it seemed like.

I need to pull the sales flyer for the other grocery store nearby and see if I can do better there. I hate their meat though.