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Supermarketguru.com food industry expert Phil Lempert gives Tom his predictions for this year’s food price trends.
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-- -- had a huge impact on US crops especially corn and soybeans and more dry weather is forecast for this year.
Since these crops are also largely used to feed livestock in the prices of milk beef and chicken are they about -- guy that goes sky high as well.
-- -- -- food industry analyst with supermarket guru dot com -- leopard.
Fill that I I saw an inflation report earlier this week that said that inflation the Consumer Price Index was at zero.
And that food prices when you include those it was up just a little bit do you agree.
No apple -- not Tom if you take a look and you pointed out the drought.
All the weather conditions we've had food prices are on the rise just anybody who goes into his -- market can see that especially on protein sources like meet.
And chicken and Turkey and frankly people are changing their behavior as a result.
Well this -- in the last that you and I -- together the farm bill was was on kind of on the cusp of whether they were going to.
Pass -- or not we were talking about eight dollar.
Milk prices and shortly after I last saw you they just kick the can down the road another month or two so.
Now what's going to happen are we going to still see those eight dollar milk prices.
I don't think we're gonna see.
A dollar milk prices however keep in mind that this -- -- expansion.
He's only nine months typically form bills -- passed for five years -- just as we saw all the anxiety about the fiscal cliff.
Come -- half months from now we're going to be talking again about the possibilities of eight dollar -- Keep in mind that the government now subsidizes milk all dairy products about eighteen dollars a hundred weight.
If in fact that goes away and the formal expires that's good to about double that's -- people are talking about eight dollar -- will that happen.
Absolutely not because consumers are just not gonna stand for and frankly there's other things that they're gonna drink instead.
What -- gonna say at some point the market would -- Why can't the marketplace take over it isn't that the dairy subsidy kind of out of date idea that was may be good.
Forty years ago.
Well it gets worse than that comics 1949.
So think about the products that we were eating the food products back in 1949 think about forming in 1949.
This bill is antiquated everybody agrees with that.
But frankly it is so big and cumbersome that nobody can really do again it's gonna take a number of years have a more accurate form bill.
But frankly that's exactly what needs to happen well -- you take a look at subsidy -- Who whose foreign -- -- -- -- -- -- to group is saying let's keep those 1949 prices and and government subsidies taxpayer someone else.
You know obviously any any of the lobbying organization that are getting those subsidies you know -- dairy products and so on.
But you know our nutritional needs have changed and when we look at subsidies less than 1% -- -- subsidies.
Are going for programs -- -- fruits and vegetables that every -- every registered dietitian Hussein we need to consume more of that's where the subsidies need to go.
Let's talk about the food stamps PDT whatever you wanna call them down that it's huge were forty some million Americans are on this.
-- stamp program.
The food industry.
There's got to be part of would fill that goes you know this should -- this.
We're glad that the government is giving money to people to buy food because we benefit from a right.
Not really.
You know I think when you look at hunger and you look at certain corporations.
That a real food companies that are really out there trying to help hunger ConAgra Foods for example with their -- hunger programs.
Hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to help.
Hungry people I think if you look at the EDT programs -- -- or some movement to make programs better.
For example there's a program that if you use your.
Food stamps at farmer's market to buy fruits and vegetables they actually doubled the value of it so there is some good work being done.
However as you point out we really again need to go into that system.
Look at what's being purchased and what we really can give people.
And also the education of what these people should be buying it's not just about giving them a debit card and saying.
You know go buy anything except beer liquor and cigarettes.
But also what are those nutrients that they really do need.
-- to create good strong fan yet but the but the news stories are about the somebody use and -- EDT card for a drink at a strip club and on that to kind of thing to drive people crazy.
And and it should there's no reason for that.
On and that's you know the big loopholes that we've got and it's all about -- retailers whether it's at a strip club.
Or in the supermarket -- accepted that shouldn't be accepting it we've got to put in those controls much stricter.
To tell me about food prices for this year know where that -- the whether people are saying we're we're in this cycle.
-- -- bread basket of our country is still going to be very dry again this year.
Absolutely and even if you look at the USDA projections.
On weather conditions and food prices it's gonna continue to go up.
So Tom what we've got to do we've got to think smarter about what foods we're buying.
One of the things that we're seeing for example is meet in.
And poultry prices are going up.
People still recognized the importance of -- team.
So what they're doing is are now having -- for lunch and dinner so that they do get good protein but up for less price.
-- more meat substitutes that are made out of tofu for example again because you're still getting the protein.
But -- far cheaper price so we're gonna have to really think about how much we're buying and also how much we're wasting.
Right now about 40% of -- food in this country is wasted.
That's huge -- so we just cut out that waste factor at home it restaurants Indian food factories.
You're gonna see a big change.
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