What is up with their not-even-trying-to-hide-it price hikes lately? I resent items going up .20 to .50 cents per item just for the hell of it. Seriously. We buy the same stuff every week pretty much and what usually costs 100 cost 120 last week. WTF? Jumping on the ole they'll-pay-this-much-for-gas- they'll-pay-this-much-for-groceries bandwagon???? Argh!
Who has better prices? Wal-Mart? I'll bet their prices are going up as well. What makes you think they are raising prices "just for the hell of it"? They are spending more money on shipping goods. That increase in cost gets passed on to us, so that they can stay in business. If we were not so entirely addicted to oil it wouldn't be as bad. The price of staple goods (flour, milk, eggs...) has stayed far below the rate of inflation. Unfortunately, unlike investment banks, the local grocery store doesn't get propped up by the Fed. It is yet another sign of our tanking economy, and it's not going to get better until we realize that we have to start conserving our resources and move our economy away from one where job growth is based on more burger flipping jobs.
I say that because there are huge fluctuations on pricing.
I am not ignorant to the fact that gas is going up and energy costs will trickle down and affect the cosumer on many levels but to me that would substanciate an across the board small increase on all items.
I am not sure I agree on the price of staple items with the exception of eggs. Milk is 5-6 dollars a gallon and to quote a price on bread to back up my point,
we usually buy a loaf of the H-E-B brand wheat bread...the price is fine...for the past two weeks, the price has been .20 cents more per loaf than normal (still a good price) but my point is that that not so small increase applied to each item on your grocery bill makes for a hefty increase in the grocery bill. I hear people crabbing about this everywhere and being a fan of H-E-B and spending $500 + there a month to feed the family healthily I just resent the price jacks.
Walmart is OK for the stuff that comes in cans and is mass produced but for fruits, veg, and meats...I prefer H-E-B.
You will have to suck it up (like me) and deal with it until we (USA) can get out of this economic nightmare. (.. unfortunately it will get worse before it gets better)
I am sucking it up like everyone else as I still shop there.
HEB does not offer the best prices as Wal-Mart is cheaper on most items but I think Wal-mart's standard is lower as well. I have started buying some things at Wal-Mart already but the two stops for one grocery trip seems senseless.
My husband just read an interesting article that may apply here. The main points were:
Due to the push for more biofuel - which in the US comes from CORN, our food supplies are being affected in drastic ways. Wheat prices are skyrocketing because farmers are being subsidized to plant corn for fuel, instead of wheat.
Products made with corn are increasing in price (and this includes meat) because the corn grown is used for FUEL, not food.
The irony is: Using corn as biofuel to reduce our dependence on foreign oil is smoke and mirrors. It comes with enormous environmental, monetary and social costs.
Environmental: It requires PETROLEUM based fertilizers to grow. The increased fertilizer runoff is killing off the fish in the gulf of Mexico. Corn is inefficient compared to other sources of biofuel.
Monetary: This corn crop is subsidized. Which means, we may not pay at the pump, but we pay with our taxes, or...by not having federal money for other priorities.
Social: We are still dependent on oil. We are not learning to change our social structure to CONSERVE. Our food prices across the board are rising sharply. Everywhere, not just at HEB.
While it sucks that HEB prices are going up, this is not their fault, not our we thaeonly victims. Get mad. Write letters. Lobby for change. I have no answers, but this is a symptom of deep problems in our country.
Do you know about the Community vegetable garden, behind the Catholic church on Hopkins? It's a volunteer effort, and I hear it is a great space, fenced with water and good soil. Though I confess I haven't been yet.
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