The high cost of eating: With food prices on upward climb, families are learning how to spend less

Portia Seabrook is a West Ashley mother of two boys whose husband is with the military overseas. Buying food at the commissary is cheaper, but it's not always convenient.

So Seabrook also shops at a chain grocery on Savannah Highway closer to home.

She justifies that to a degree because a commissary trip uses more gas. But at the supermarket, Seabrook must do battle like everybody else on the front line of food prices.

Still, her savings strategy is fairly casual. She compares store prices and uses some coupons on higher items. Also, 'We don't eat out a lot.'

Your grocery bill isn't catching much of a break this summer.

The Consumer Price Index for food at home ticked up 0.2 percent from May to June. Although the rise was the smallest of the year, the food-at-home index has jumped 4.7 percent over the past 12 months.

Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was a mixed bag. Prices for meat, poultry, fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables fell slightly from May to June. But other major food groups, including cereal and dairy products, continued to inch up.

Harry Snell of West Ashley is one of many local shoppers who have taken notice. He has seen his brand of coffee climb from $3 to more than $5 a can in the past few months. The price of coffee is 17.6 higher than last year.

Also, 'meat has really gone up,' Snell said last week while loading groceries into a cooler in the trunk of his car.

Snell and his wife are on a fixed income, so he does as much of his shopping as possible at the no-frills, discount grocery Sav-a-Lot. 'I buy whatever I can get here,' said the two-time retiree who tracks his spending meticulously.

College of Charleston economist Frank Hefner doesn't expect the price trend to reverse anytime soon. Freaky weather and natural disasters in the United States and across the world are affecting production and distribution, he said.

'The Midwest saw major supply disruptions with the floods. Corn has gone through the roof because of ethanol. That translates into higher prices for animal feed, and that's why we're getting higher prices for meat and dairy.'

Moreover, he said, 'the trend unfortunately is inflation across the board, not just for food.'

The recent fall in gas prices won't be much help in the long term, he said. 'You're only talking a few dimes.'

Hefner said he thinks the gas-price drop is temporary because it's based on the recent release of oil reserves by the United States and its allies. The climb will resume when the oil market realizes that the reserves are about to run out, he predicts.

'It backfires every time they do it.'

Christopher Ibsen, spokesman for Piggly Wiggly Carolina, said food hikes have been across the board, with commodities such as grain significantly affected.

'It's been a mix of weather issues that has impacted certain crop supplies and well-documented demand on corn supply to support ethanol production. That just has a trickle-down effect,' he said.

The grocery industry realizes that people are under economic pressure, and it has made great efforts to pass on as little of the price hikes as possible, Ibsen said.

'That's certainly a challenge the industry has had to face, because we already operate on razor-thin margins,' he said. 'It's squeezing what are already very tight numbers.'

The cost of staples has the attention of Mary Jensen, a West Ashley wife and mother of two.

'I watch for sales, but I still come home with cereal and bread for the week. You sort of absorb it, but cut back on the extras,' she said.

Fresh produce and cereal are two main purchases for Rebecca Munger of Charleston, who cooks for herself. She 'absolutely' has noticed price increases.

'What I've done is try to buy more specials,' she said. 'I never buy heads-on shrimp, but I bought it this time because it was much cheaper.'

Munger enjoys high-quality coffee, and so she seeks out coupons for it, as well as for cereal and clothes detergent.

Robert Goodale of Adams Run emerged from the Johns Island Piggly Wiggly last week with his 6-year-old daughter. Goodale said he lost his job as a sous chef at the Harvest Moon Lowcountry Grill in Ravenel when the restaurant recently closed.

He too has seen a lot of change in food prices this year, particularly vegetables, rice, corn 'and pretty much any wheat product,' he said.

To save money, 'I try to stay away from the name brands and stick to the store brand,' he said.

Picking up a few items for his family at the Piggly Wiggly, Scott Deavenport of Johns Island admitted he's not a 'professional shopper,' and doesn't look at prices that much.

With a wife and two boys though, Deavenport knows one way to rein in food spending.

'It's cheaper for me to go to the grocery store than to go out to eat,' he said.

Item | % increase over 2010

Bacon 20.0

Bananas 5.8

Beef 8.2

Bread (other than white) 5.5

Breakfast cereal 5.2

Butter 21.7

Coffee 17.6

Eggs 11.1

Fish and seafood 8.2

Lettuce 3.2

Milk 10.2

Peanut butter 1.0

Potatoes 11.6

Poultry 3.0

Rice, pasta, cornmeal 3.8

U.S. Bureau – of Labor Statistics

Teresa Taylor is the food editor. Reach her at 937-4886.