We're all concerned about it.

Food prices have gone up significantly in the last year.  It is being predicted that they will continue to go up, up, up.  And in this environment of rising food costs and deep recession, can we afford organic food?

According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, food prices went up 6.4% in 2008 alone--the biggest price jump for food in almost two decades.  Food prices are expected to rise a minimum of 2-3% more this year, with experts warning that dairy, egg, and meat prices might rise far more.  These increases are affecting everything, from cereal to packaged pizzas to bulk beans to produce.  Every time we receive a big grocery delivery at Common Ground, the invoice reveals a few more price increases.  

The factors that have led to this increase are many and articles on the whys have been showing up in just about every form of media this year, so I'll just give an outline of the reasons I know of that have come to light:
�    Fuel costs:  The meteoric rise in fuel prices last year led to high food transportation costs, which landed directly on your grocery receipt.  When oil prices began rising, big food distributors started raising their prices right away. Local farmers warned that they were doing all they could to keep their prices steady, but that their transportation costs were making it very hard.  While fuel prices have dropped again, many food prices never went back down.  Most in the food industry consider the current lower oil prices a short reprieve, not to be banked on, and thus have not lowered prices.
�    Ethanol: Corn prices went up 70% in 2008 due to the rush to turn corn into ethanol.  The government is making offers of significant subsidies to encourage farmers to grow more corn for fuel production.  The results?  Not only has the price of corn spiked and in turn the prices of everything made with corn (practically everything, from tortillas to soda pop to most animal products), but it has driven up the prices of many other crops as well.  Why?  As farmers rush to convert fields to lucrative corn production, they are growing less of other crops like wheat, driving up those prices as well.
�    Global warming: Time reported on Feb. 27, 2008, "Harvests have been seriously disrupted by freak weather, including prolonged droughts in Australia and southern Africa, floods in West Africa, and this past winter's deep frost in China and record breaking warmth in northern Europe." Australia's drought led to worldwide rice and wheat shortages, which affected you directly when you purchased that loaf of bread.  The freak weather isn't expected to let up any time soon, leading to more food shortages and rising prices.

This is a complex issue with many facets, but these are the biggies.  So, with food prices showing no signs of falling, can we afford organic and locally-grown food?

For most of us, yes.  And we need to.  It is only becoming more critical that we develop alternatives to conventional agriculture; that we stop poisoning our food, our land, our waterways, and our families; that we support the only form of agriculture that rebuilds our disappearing arable soil.  The reasons each of us started eating organic and local food have not gone away.  They have only become more critical.  

I struggled to write this article because there are so many important discussions to have from so many different angles on the cost of food.  I've decided that the only way to do it justice is to consider this Part I in an ongoing series of articles on food costs.  

For the next six weeks, I will be posting an article each week to my blog on Common Ground's website about the following aspects of food prices:

Week 1 - Why Food is Costing More (the article you are reading now)
Week 2 - Why Organic Food Costs More
Week 3 - Why Paying More for Organic and Local Food is Good for You (And the World)
Week 4 - How Prices are Set at Your Co-op
Week 5 - What Your Co-op is Doing to Keep Food Prices Down
Week 6 - Tips for Saving Money at Common Ground

We'll send you a link every week to each of these blog posts. Look for these links on Common Ground's Facebook fan page and Twitter feed, and as part of Owner Deal e-mails.  My blog entries will also post to the front page of the Co-op's website, www.commonground.coop  
As we go forward with this conversation, I'll be sharing some of the comments and questions I've been getting from owners and shoppers on the issue of price and addressing them directly.  If you have questions or comments you'd like to see addressed in my weekly articles, please send them to me at jacqueline@commonground.coop. As always, I want to hear from you.

In Cooperation,
- Jacqueline