Live data from Hacker News

Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

bloomberg.com

31–40 of 605 posts

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#31
post #6

Here it comes. Cost of running money printer too hard.

Having we been giving much printed money to people who need more food? Most people in the western world aren't likely to buy more food, just because they have more money. Not saying, we won't see inflation, who knows, but I doubt we'll see it in household items.

Yeah exactly, cyberpsybin's comment reads as "now that people have enough money to buy food they ate all of it".

No, the problem is that there isn't enough food in the first place. The rising price rewards farmers who produce additional food. You just need to run a stimulus program for farmers so that they can expand and mechanize their farms to increase yields.

I wish people would look at physical reality first and then look where physical reality takes the market rather than looking at the market and ignoring what physical reality looks like.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#32

After reading this article, I want to stock up on more food for myself and my five dependents. Double our reserves of biscuits, cereals, frozen meat, frozen bread, canned food, preserves, long-life milk, honey, multivitamins, MREs, etc etc. Is this panic buying? Is it OK? Does it hurt other people? I’d be interested to hear some different points of view.

I don't think many other people are panic buying at the moment, so doing it now won't hurt other people by creating a localised shortage.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#33
As someone that is the food mostly spice trade prices have started going up in the last 2-3 weeks though prices have not even reached pre pandemic levels. Black Pepper prices have jumped 20+% in the last 20day that price is still 50% cheaper than what it was 4-5 years ago. The largest problem is not availablity of goods rather shipping. I would advise investing in shipping companies if you are active in the stock market. As now days they are charging 3-4 times the freight and still hard to get space so they probably rare raking it in

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#34
post #5

I don't get how food consumption can increase in a pandemic. Should be constant in or outside a pandemic situation. Possibly somewhere crops are getting rotten because of newly imposed export restrictions, or for some other things.

In the UK at least, it's very much due to new-found export (and import) restrictions. The price of food has slightly increased since brexshit, whereas its availability has plummeted: the number of varieties of vegetables stocked by my local Tesco, for example, has plummeted, and the stock sells out almost immediately after delivery.

I recall this being broadly the same during the first lockdown as well pre brexit.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#35
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pure speculation: Texas. (also central US crops? but it's probably too early for that) I wonder how many warehoused things that require power and integrity got damaged.

They don’t really grow much but cattle in Texas. Doubt there’s a correlation.

Please research Texas agriculture. Cattle does account for half of ag commodities. However it’s such a large state that it is the top US producer of several non-livestock ag commodities.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#36

"thanks to a combination of poor weather, increased demand and virus-mangled global supply chains." Seems like a lost opportunity to create so much anxiety with a long piece like this, to then only have this single line to hint at a reason for the rise. Can anybody more economically minded clarify if this is just post-covid rebound supply chain prices or is this food prices adjusting closer to their 'real' cost? Also…

Here in Australia, some food prizes are up because the farming industry relies on cheap backpacker labor.

Borders are shut so no backpackers come in, so a lot of fruit died on the field.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/world/australia/agricultu...

It should be noted that the entire industry is notorious for doing every dodgy thing they can get away with, wage theft, rent theft, extreme conditions, so local workers stay as far away from these jobs as they can.

Other industries have done OK though. Wheat grain, for example, is predicted to be pretty average: https://research.csiro.au/graincast/wheat-yield-forecasts/

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#37
Closed borders, no students/backpackers, farmers unprepared to pay minimum wages to Australians is resulting in a lot of produce being plowed back into the ground. I just don't know how this economy keeps rolling.

How can farmers meet the payments on their loans?

Reading 'The great depression: A diary' and looking at the world today just shocks the hell out of me. We are following it step for step and the crash is going to be devastating.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#38
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't get how food consumption can increase in a pandemic. depression spurs eating binges. being inside what to do, oh lets make more advanced food. lets bake cakes with the kids instead of sending them out to play with friends. etc. etc. so increased consumption in combination with other, probably more important, pandemic problems.

But with most restaurants closing your will also have to subtract the food that would have been used there. Obviously most of them tried to change to a takeaway service, but I am pretty sure their overall customers went down by alot during all of this.

If i cant go to a restaurant i still have to eat. I dont think this would lead to a huge difference. At least not for me.
Post reply on HN