What a month it’s been. The first official month of fall in my opinion. It highlighted some easy and cheap meals that go a long way. From our $10 Lo Mein to the underdog fav, my chicken and dumpling soup.
To get serious for a second, costs continued to rise in October. We are seeing year over year costs jumping across the board as follows:
Overall food prices +2.5%
Groceries (food at home) +1.8%
Restaurant meals +3.5%
Fruits and vegetables +3.7%
Coffee +7.1%
Cereals and bakery products +2.1%
Meat, poultry, fish and eggs +0.3%
Dairy −0.7%
Good news at least dairy is down a bit. I don’t share these numbers to scare or intimidate. I want you to be informed month to month as to where costs stand and why I am leaning a certain direction as far as recipes go. I base my recipes on overall cost, volume and of course flavor. But these prices dictate the recipes I make.
These high prices are far from over. As a matter of fact I think we can expect them to get worse before they get better. But as we have shown one another with The 99% Cooking Club, we can band together and overcome. We can cook good food, share easy recipes and make sure we are all fed. I am proud to be a part of this movement and I am grateful for all of you.
Onward and upward.
Together.