I went grocery shopping yesterday, and came home so frustrated and demoralized that I wanted to cry. The price of groceries is sky-rocketing and I feel like there is nothing I can do about it. In the past three weeks, I have seen prices of most items I regularly buy jump by 10 or 20 cents a unit. I bought 49 items yesterday, so at an average increase of .15, that’s a $7.35 increase. While not a lot of money, this is over the course of several weeks. Couple that increase with record inflation and my recently reduced budget, and it becomes a huge problem.
I’m not entirely sure what is causing the sudden price surges, but I have some ideas. First, inflation. We had a record level of 1.0% inflation for the month of January at the wholesale level, and from January 2007 to January 2008, I’ve seen estimates from 2.5% to 4%! That is huge! But inflation is caused by so many things that I’m sure these other factors below are contributors.
Second, the rising cost of fuel. We’ve been experiencing that for a while, I know, but we need to stop complaining about the price of gasoline, and start raising concern over the price of diesel! Here in IL, the price of diesel is anywhere from 50 to 75 cents more per gallon than gasoline. I know you’re saying, “But I don’t drive a diesel vehicle. Why should I care?” The cost of diesel effects EVERYTHING! Every single item you purchase is transported by diesel-burning vehicles. Those cute jeans from the Gap? Shipped by a diesel-burning cargo ship from China. Toiletries at Wal-Mart? Sent here by diesel-guzzling 18 wheeler. Coal to burn for electricity? Hauled across the country by diesel-powered train. Food, toys, furniture, new cars…every single thing. And companies just pass that increase in fuel cost along to you.
Finally, the sudden surge in the use of bio-fuels is causing prices to jump on the grains (mainly soy and corn) used to produce them. Since those two grains are used to feed livestock and are in almost every commercially-produced food product, it stands to reason that as the cost of them increases, so will the cost of the finished product.
We need to find a way to slow the increase in fuel cost. We need to find an alternative fuel that is both inexpensive and effective. We need to use less fuel and be more conscious of the ways in which we waste. If the situation is going downhill so rapidly right now, just think how bad it could be in a few years. We need to make a change today. I’m not entirely sure how to go about doing that, but I will find a way!
Tags: biofuel, diesel, food, fuel shortage, gasoline, groceries, inflation, oil
