Food Inflation Spin

This is not news to most of us.

Retail food prices grew just over two percent during the third quarter of 2011 according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $50.55. It marked an increase of $1.06 (2.1 percent) from the $49.49 Marketbasket price in June, and $5.26 (11.6 percent) from one year ago.

OK, yah, we knew that.

But look, carefully, at the reasons given:

“Food prices continue to climb at the grocery store and there’s a bumper crop of reasons why,” said Casey Langan, Wisconsin Farm Bureau spokesman. “Strong global demand, weather extremes and high energy prices are all driving steady price growth for many food items.”

Umnnhhh.....gee.  No mention of burning corn in gas tanks?   After all, corn feeds livestock and poultry; corn is an ingredient in lots of cereals; and corn-planting displaces soybean, wheat, and oats, right?

Well, eventually he kinda mentions it...

“A number of factors have impacted egg prices,” Langan said. “Nationally the number of egg laying hens has dropped about 1 percent from a year ago. The price of corn used to feed hens has been high. Also, as we are getting into the baking season, demand for eggs traditionally goes up.

Yup.  It's just the eggs.