Rising Temperatures to Lead to Rising Food Prices?

In this heat, you can pretty much cook an egg on the sidewalk. Here at Miss Money Bee’s sunny Florida headquarters, we can barely survive a car ride without blasting the A/C on high – and we know we’re not the only ones.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture added 218 U.S. counties to its “disaster” list recently.  This year more than half of all U.S. counties – 1,584 in 32 states – have been designated as primary disaster areas, which has taken a tremendous toll on our nation’s agriculture.

With such extreme weather temperatures, it’s only normal to ponder how this drought will affect our crops and food prices. The Agriculture Department recently forecasted that food prices will rise throughout the next year due to widespread drought. This will raises our food prices and affect consumer’s monthly budgets.

A new survey by Coupon Cabin revealed that many Americans they are concerned about the upcoming high costs. More than 1/3 (36 percent) of U.S. adults are very concerned that recent drought issues will lead to higher food prices, while overall 96 percent are at least somewhat concerned about the issue.

In anticipation of higher supermarket prices, Americans have a plan of possible tactics to lower their grocery bills.

• 70 % opted to use coupons
• 60 % said they will buy store brand and/or generic items instead of brand-name items
• 48 % said they will buy less expensive foods (more canned goods, fewer fresh items)

Americans are also getting craftier when it comes to making the most out of their money.

Coupon Cabin asked a random sample of adults what the most creative thing they’ve ever done to save money on food costs was, and here are some of their answers:

• Added fillers such as rice and noodles to leftovers of food that were inexpensive to cook in the first place.
• Bought in bulk and then split costs with neighbors.
• Bought small plates at a dollar store to cut down on portions.
• Bought a lot when products were on sale due to scratches, dents or dings.
• Held a coupon swapping party with friends.
• Ate a more vegetarian-oriented diet.
• Ate everything I had at home before going to the grocery store.
• Froze fruit for winter when it’s cheap over the summer.
• Went to the farmers’ market instead of the grocery store.
• Ground our own flour and sunflower oil.
• Shopped at day-old bread stores.
• I was a member of a community garden that had our own plots to grow things in as well as larger crops that were shared among the group.
• Ate more one-pot dinners like soups, stews and pastas.
• Ground my own hamburger using cuts of beef that cost less than store-bought ground beef.
• Used a vacuum sealer and freeze items.

We want our readers to tell us their creative money-saving strategies! Let us know what you’ve done to cut down on food costs by leaving a comment!