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As fuel prices rise, so does cost of food
Published 2/11/2012 in Local News
Consumers struggle to stretch their dollar.
By ANGIE HAFLICH
ahaflich@gctelegram.com
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram Carolynn Polk looks over the selection of meats at Dillons East on Friday. Polk uses coupons to help lower her grocery bills.
While fuel prices continue to increase, it is no surprise that food prices continue to rise, as well.
As a result, consumers are having to find ways to stretch their grocery dollars.
Economically, a number of factors are at play with rising food prices. The most common tool in determining what percentage Americans as a whole spend on particular items is the consumer price index (CPI). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI is a measure of the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.
Within the CPI calculation, which according to the bureau was at 3 percent for November 2010 through December 2011, are five categories: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation and medical costs.
Charles Marcy, economics instructor at Garden City Community College, said that based on the bureau's CPI calculation between November 2010 and December 2011, there are a couple of categories that stand out in terms of the rise in grocery prices.
"In particular, in western Kansas, think about the fuel component that it takes. They have to pay to ship everything out here from Wichita or from wherever it may be. Even the beef from Tyson gets shipped to Wichita or somewhere with a warehouse, where Dillons buys it and then ships it back to Garden City," he said. "A good portion of the cost of the groceries we buy is that fuel we use to transport it."
Beef prices are expected to increase this year, due to cattle producers downsizing their herds, which also contributes to the overall CPI of groceries.
"The meat, poultry and fish category ... makes up almost 2 percent of the whole CPI," Marcy said.
Meat items alone account for half of that category, at almost 1 percent of the total CPI.
"Looking at what's been happening with the smaller-sized cattle herds here in the U.S. over the last year — now you're seeing some of the impact of that," he said. "In addition to the fact that fuel prices have remained high, it isn't much of a stretch to connect the rise of grocery prices to these two factors."
Ironically, for Dillons customers who possess a Dillons fuel card, the higher the grocery bill, the greater possible savings on fuel. Fuel reward points are accumulated each month for customers who possess a fuel card. The card not only provides a discount on featured groceries, but the higher the grocery bill, the more fuel reward points can be accumulated.
Carolynn Polk of Garden City said that because her children are grown, she does not frequent the grocery store as much as she used to but that less frequent trips have resulted in larger grocery bills. In some cases, the larger the grocery bill, the greater the overall savings.
"When you shop at Dillons, they send you personal coupons so I had one this morning — it was so many dollars off if you spent more than $120 in groceries. The bill this morning was $170, and it ended up being $130," Polk said.
Lyn Roth of Garden City has found some other ways to save.
"Most of the time, I use coupons. But when certain products rise in price, I look for the knock-off or store brands that are cheaper and work just as good, like value brand stuff at Walmart," she said.
Debra Bolton, area extension specialist at the Finney County K-State Research and Extension office, said that their organization helps low-income families stretch their grocery dollars.
One suggestion she had for saving on groceries, particularly food, is to cook from scratch.
"You might have to invest a little more upfront by purchasing the flour and other ingredients, but it's not mixed for you, so it doesn't cost as much. Plus, you can control the amount of fat, sodium and sugar that you put into it — so it's a healthier option too," Bolton said.
In the book, "Savvy Shopping: How to Reduce Your Weekly Grocery Bill to $85 Per Week — or Less," author Toni House has several tips for saving grocery money:
* Be patient. Save pricier purchases for double coupon days.
* Be detail-oriented. How much more will a coupon be worth on double coupon days?
* Plan ahead. Instead of always playing catch-up, replacing what you've run out of, you only purchase an item when it's on the menu.
* Instead of making expensive foods (meat) the centerpiece of each meal, design menus that use the most expensive foods less often.
* At the grocery store, buy only what you can eat.
* Grocery store prices for non-food items are higher than you'll pay almost anywhere else.
* Do use coupons, but only for products you actually need.
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