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

[ChisJo]

Prices are crazy here too...Milk is almost 4.50 a gallon and gas is now $5.20(we are paying 1.30 a litre here)....As for bacon, usually at least one brand is on sale for $5 dollars each week, although we maybe eat bacon once a month so it isnt too big a deal for us... When i see all these threads that families are spending only 75 dollars a week, i just dont get it...We go thru almost $12 a week in just milk! With gas prices, it is my teenagers i feel sorry for, they are really complaining when they put gas in their tanks, and i think they are thinking twice before driving anywhere....Good thing minimum wage is finally going up here!

Although, in Alberta, our gas is only $1.07/L, but our 4L milk is $4. I only buy bacon when Sobeys has BOGO, so maybe once a year, and that lasts us a long time. For my husband and me, groceries are between $75-$100/week, and when we have my teenage step-son, it's over $100/week. In Canada, we don't have the luxury of having the coupon perks that the US has (double coupon days, for example) and even if we did, alot of the times I find its for food that I wouldn't buy my step-son (KD, processes high sugared foods), so eating healthy is kicking me in the butt, but worth it.

 

[pigletto]

Where the heck in Canada do you live? I live in central Ontario (close to Toronto) and I've NEVER seen bacon that price. I buy the brand name bacon on sale for under $3 a pound all the time, I've even bought it for $1.99 a pound.

I'm in Ontario and I don't ever see bacon that price. It was on sale the other day for 3.99 but that's about as low as I have seen it in awhile. I do agree with the poster that our milk and bread prices have always been really high. I can hop over the border and pay HALF as much for staples than I can here. I don't know if I would use the word "spoiled" though.
Makes one wonder why milk is 5.00 here but I drive 20 minutes away and cross the border and it's 2.00 less.

Coupons here aren't bad at all. I used to think they were non existant until i found a forum specific to Canadian deals.. we often have crazy good coupons. I didn't pay for shampoo/razors/maxi pads/body wash etc for over a year when I was actively following that forum. And I commonly see coupons for junky stuff.. but I have tons of coupons for veggies and fruits (frozen) dairy products (including cheese, milk and yogurt) etc. You have to know where to look and it takes a little work.. but trust me there are signifigant deals to be had if you check out SmartCanucks. It takes some work to get into couponing here..but it absolutely can be done.

 

[ChisJo]

Coupons here aren't bad at all. I used to think they were non existant until i found a forum specific to Canadian deals.. we often have crazy good coupons. I didn't pay for shampoo/razors/maxi pads/body wash etc for over a year when I was actively following that forum. And it I commonly see coupons for junky stuff.. but I have tons of coupons for veggies and fruits (frozen) dairy products (including cheese, milk and yogurt) etc. You have to know where to look and it takes a little work.. but trust me there are signifigant deals to be had if you check out SmartCanucks. It takes some work to get into couponing here..but it absolutely can be done.

I know that website...and I love it. However, I find that it is geared for more of the central/Eastern provinces (esp. Ontario). Alot of the deals that are posted there are specific to Ontario and are useless for us Westerners.

 

[pigletto]

I know that website...and I love it. However, I find that it is geared for more of the central/Eastern provinces (esp. Ontario). Alot of the deals that are posted there are specific to Ontario and are useless for us Westerners.

Absolutely true. Although I am totally jealous of your airlmiles programs it sucks here. I was trying to get enough for our Universal passes and it's taking me months.. westerners are earning enough in a month.

 

[Dorisk3]

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...

I love bacon as much as the next person, but I wouldn't consider a "staple."

 

[C.Ann]

When we flash freeze the strawberries, for some we just take the green stem part off and others we will slice a bit more (those usually are for dessert use where the whole ones are to throw in a smoothie)....then you spread them on a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer for an hour. Once they're individually frozen you can put them in freezer bags and they're easier to get just a few out. If you throw them in the bag to freeze they tend to become a big glob of berries that you have to either thaw (and thus use them all) or use a chisel to break off some, lol. Been there, done that.

You can flash freeze most any fruit....when nectarines and peaches finally get cheap we'll do them as well...same with melon, plums, mangos, etc. Bananas are cheap around here, but if we buy too many and they're starting to show signs of brown, I'll peel and flash freeze them as well. Not so good for straight eating after thawed, but works fine for smoothies and banana bread. Apples will freeze well but tend to change color even when we've tried using lemon juice or that chemical product to stop it....but my family eats apples every day so it's rare that they go bad around here and they're cheap most of the year so not a big deal for us.

Thanks for sharing all this info.. I was just going to go on an internet hunt regarding freezing fresh fruits.. Most of my favorite dessert recipes (many baked) call for one fruit or another and I would like to be able to buy them in season and freeze them..

I have one question in particular though - about the apples.. My Dson-in-law loves anything with apples in it, so many of my baked desserts call for different types of apples.. Since they're mixed into the recipe and baked, color isn't important - but will it change the texture or taste?

Thanks!

 

[SandrA9810]

Thanks for sharing all this info.. I was just going to go on an internet hunt regarding freezing fresh fruits.. Most of my favorite dessert recipes (many baked) call for one fruit or another and I would like to be able to buy them in season and freeze them..

I have one question in particular though - about the apples.. My Dson-in-law loves anything with apples in it, so many of my baked desserts call for different types of apples.. Since they're mixed into the recipe and baked, color isn't important - but will it change the texture or taste?

Thanks!

Sprinkling lime juice helps to keep them from browning once you slice them. If they figured out a way to sell them sliced in baggies at the grocery store, I'm sure you could freeze them.

And most the time, desserts call for the granny smith or other slightly bitter varieties, so I doubt you'd taste the lime in it.

 

[CowboyCO]

I love bacon as much as the next person, but I wouldn't consider a "staple."

Well, when there is a whole market that deals in the commodity, I'd call that a staple. It's a staple of the American diet. I lump it in there with things you buy regularly such as milk, eggs, butter, bread, meat, vegetables and yes - bacon.

 

[dntd]

I've given up buying milk and snacks in Canada, poor boarder patrol is going to start suspecting us of something with us going 2x a week!

 

[Colleen27]

Sprinkling lime juice helps to keep them from browning once you slice them. If they figured out a way to sell them sliced in baggies at the grocery store, I'm sure you could freeze them.

And most the time, desserts call for the granny smith or other slightly bitter varieties, so I doubt you'd taste the lime in it.

To stop them from browning there's always food-grade ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder. Most stores have it with the canning supplies, at least in my area, and it doesn't have the flavor of using lemon or lime juice.

 

[Tink2Day]

If you're really a cowboy in Colorado, raise your own.

We've always had a few head of cattle, some chickens, pigs, turkeys.

I think this year instead of my small garden I'll take an acre of land to plant in veggies and berries and hope it doesn't kill me to tend it.

A relative said they paid $2 for a bell pepper in Colorado!

That's one of the things that is the easiest to grow too.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

Another person in Western Canada and yep sounds like they are now close to our regular prices. Milk here is $4.00 of 4 litres, gas $1.12/litre, bacon $5.99/pound............

I love shopping in the US as there is crazy variety and low prices..............like really i had never seen an aisle of frozen pizza varietys like i saw at the grocery stores in America, here we have one little cooler with varieties...........there they had a whole aisle of freezers with different makes and kinds

I love the price of cheese the most as we love cheese and here its so expensive compared to there...................i miss living near the border in BC and just going across to buy cheese, milk and butter

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

Ethanol industry is raising your food prices (and will continue to do so) and taking down your livestock farmers

 

[SandrA9810]

Ethanol industry is raising your food prices (and will continue to do so) and taking down your livestock farmers

I think livestock owners need to go back to the way things were supposed to be. Grow some grass and let the cows eat. Grain was introduced as a cheaper alternative, but now that it's not anymore... just let them go back to eating what they're supposed to.

I'm really hating corn and scientists for trying to figure out everything they can do with it. I love eating a good corn off the cob, but stop trying to make it the basis of the world. If EVERYTHING didn't include corn... it wouldn't be priced so high.

 

[CowboyCO]

If you're really a cowboy in Colorado, raise your own.

We've always had a few head of cattle, some chickens, pigs, turkeys.

I think this year instead of my small garden I'll take an acre of land to plant in veggies and berries and hope it doesn't kill me to tend it.

A relative said they paid $2 for a bell pepper in Colorado!

That's one of the things that is the easiest to grow too.

I'm a Wyoming Grad in Colorado - Cowboys - CO...

TBS, I live at 8,500 feet and the growing season is about 60 days and the deer, squirrels, and bears eat anything we try to grow. I hunt for some of our meat (deer and elk) but the freezer is bare until fall...

 

[Dorisk3]

Well, when there is a whole market that deals in the commodity, I'd call that a staple. It's a staple of the American diet. I lump it in there with things you buy regularly such as milk, eggs, butter, bread, meat, vegetables and yes - bacon.

And we wonder why there is an obesity epidemic in America. Bacon a staple?!?!?! Bacon should be eaten every 6 months tops!

 

[CowboyCO]

And we wonder why there is an obesity epidemic in America. Bacon a staple?!?!?! Bacon should be eaten every 6 months tops!

Maybe you should talk to your congressman about a new law... Until such a law exists, I will continue to make bacon with my eggs a couple of days a week.

PSSST we also eat sausage, cream gravy, biscuits with butter and wait for it.............pancakes made from bleached flour!

 

[dntd]

We own 6 hens as pets, they are cheap to feed and produce lots of eggs and we compost the waste for our garden. We get 5 -6 eggs daily. they are easy to care for. I also gow lots of things in the backyard and can when in season. Salsa and jam are really cheap when you do it yourself I also bake my own bread and own 2 bread makers, along with a slicer that makes the bread look like store bough.Bread on sale only get to $2 a loaf and that's the crappy white bread!

 

[nunzia]

And we wonder why there is an obesity epidemic in America. Bacon a staple?!?!?! Bacon should be eaten every 6 months tops!

Party Pooper....

 

[OceanAnnie]

Maybe you should talk to your congressman about a new law... Until such a law exists, I will continue to make bacon with my eggs a couple of days a week.

PSSST we also eat sausage, cream gravy, biscuits with butter and wait for it.............pancakes made from bleached flour!

Good eats!