I live in Central Illinois. If you do not live in the Midwest and haven't watched the news, we are in drought conditions. Last night they said 56% of the country is in drought.
The corn fields around here are pitiful. It has tassled and we have had no rain. The leaves have curled and many plants are stunted in growth.
No, I'm not a farmer...I'm telling you this to tell you the next part.
I'm stocking up. We went to Aldi yesterday and I bought some bottles of oil, and some extra crackers, flour, and sugar. I predict grocery prices are going to skyrocket because of the corn crop. Today I'm buying corn meal to put in the freezer. The sugar and flour went into the freezer as well. I might even buy a little more beef to put in the freezer, but it doesn't keep THAT long.
The reason I bought some of these items...well here is my reasoning. Sugar -- I believe the price of sugar will go up because many things are made from high fructose corn syrup. When there isn't as much corn to make this corn syrup, sugar will be used and the demand will increase.
Flour -- people will start using flour in place of corn products.
Oil -- a lot of vegetable oils are made from corn and the lack of corn...well you get the picture.
As for beef, well, the price will probably go up because the price of corn will go up to feed those cattle.
Also on the national news was with the extreme heat, cows aren't giving as much milk...I wonder if we will see an increase in dairy products as well.
My pantry isn't bulging by any means, but I thought I'd pick up a few extra things to ofset major jumps in the coming weeks.
Stocking Up
July 7th, 2012 at 03:34 pm
July 8th, 2012 at 05:27 am 1341721669
July 8th, 2012 at 11:05 am 1341741910
I have already laid out an Aldi stock up trip that, like you, includes oil. I also plan on hitting up my 2 baker(bread) outlet stores this week.
Remember, this weather is also affecting soy so if you are even a sometime veggie or use soy based oil it is also a stock up item(s).
July 8th, 2012 at 10:19 pm 1341782394
Jerry
July 9th, 2012 at 03:46 am 1341802012
July 9th, 2012 at 04:05 pm 1341846345
LuckyRobin...you are right about the chicken...thanks for the insight.
Marvholly...good thinking!
Thanks for the validation, MizPat!
July 10th, 2012 at 06:28 pm 1341941315