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Posted by: Spadecaller 1 year, 8 months ago
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Spadecaller1 year, 8 months ago
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Those of us who are on a fixed income or who are disabled and receiving SSD, we have been hit real hard. These are hard times. Without a sufficient cost of living increase for many years and with the increased cost of food and gas, we are having tough time keeping food on the table.
Shopping for food has become a depressing task. We have given up eating foods that we used to be able to afford regularly. I'm diabetic and get not eat too many carbohydrates, which tend to cost less.
It is sad to see that we have followed in the footsteps of the former Soviet Union. I used to think about what it cost to buy a piece of fruit in Russia -- back in the 70's and 80's. Now, the cost of an apple or a tomato, a loaf of bread, flour, ... it's insane. It's shameful.
I can't even think about this subject too long because it sickens me. But, thanks for posting a story that needs to be addressed openly. Millions of Americans are hurting financially and the worst has yet to come.
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not2needy1 year, 8 months ago
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ranchhandComment removed: Retracted by user
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browntiger1 year, 8 months ago
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What do you expect? Dollar lost about half of it's value. EUro was 76cents to 1USD. Now 1EURO to 1.56USD. We have mad man in the whitehouse, who spends like drunken sailor. We are in the fiscal disaster, our trade deals working not in our favor.
Bush response is trade deal with Colombia. Time to pull out of WTO, and nafta. Any future trade agreements should be equally profitable.
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walden31 year, 8 months ago
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I agree Spade. I can't believe how much produce is costing these days. I told my wife that we may have to begin cutting down on our purchases of freshies.
If you are able to garden I highly recommend it - you get exercise, it helps to relax, get outside in the fresh air, help the earth and get some homegrown tasties too. It's way easy to grow one or two tomato plants and be careful of zucchinis because they will take over.
BTW everyone is on a fixed income. There are very few who really have the ability to increase their income.
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nostalgia1 year, 8 months ago
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This explains part of the problem with the spiraling cost of fresh fruit and vegetables:
My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)
As a small organic vegetable producer in southern Minnesota, I know this because my efforts to expand production to meet regional demand have been severely hampered by the Agriculture Department's commodity farm program. As I've looked into the politics behind those restrictions, I've come to understand that this is precisely the outcome that the program's backers in California and Florida have in mind: they want to snuff out the local competition before it even gets started.
Last year, knowing that my own 100 acres wouldn't be enough to meet demand, I rented 25 acres on two nearby corn farms. I plowed under the alfalfa hay that was established there, and planted watermelons, tomatoes and vegetables for natural-food stores and a community-supported agriculture program.
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nostalgia1 year, 8 months ago
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All went well until early July. That's when the two landowners discovered that there was a problem with the local office of the Farm Service Administration, the Agriculture Department branch that runs the commodity farm program, and it was going to be expensive to fix.
The commodity farm program effectively forbids farmers who usually grow corn or the other four federally subsidized commodity crops (soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton) from trying fruit and vegetables. Because my watermelons and tomatoes had been planted on "corn base" acres, the Farm Service said, my landlords were out of compliance with the commodity program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01hed...
Just another example of why centralized planning doesn't work
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