Even though corn is now selling for less than half of its June price, the Thanksgiving turkey that feeds on that corn costs 8% more per pound. The wheat baked into the dinner rolls is down 60%, but the rolls are up 16%. And the soybeans in all those holiday pie crusts? Down 47% since summer, but cost is 9% more, the CBS study found.
Experts say it’s because grocery pricing is about more than just commodities.
“Raw commodity costs represent about 20% of the total food bill at the grocery store. …

According the U.S. Department of Labor, food costs have been rising an average of 5 percent per year. Low-calorie food options also have increased about 19.5 cents per year, according to a report by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
An easy way to eat healthy and keep grocery costs down is to focus on vegetables and fruits, said Robert Murray, a faculty member at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Buying frozen or canned food can save money. And, since preservation methods have improved dramatically, the nutritional quality of …

(ARA) – Worried about your grocery tab? Rising food prices are a significant cause of concern for 73 percent of consumers, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll. For almost half of them, those prices have caused a hardship.
Tightening the food budget needn’t mean sacrificing flavor or health, however. In fact, by stocking up on nutritious staples and an array of seasonings, it’s possible to become more frugal while enhancing your family’s meals. Some suggestions:
* Season those staples.
Not only are basic, natural foods — like whole grains and beans — …

(ARA) – While the days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches may be a distant childhood memory, the “brown bag” lunch is once again becoming a popular fixture on the office desk.  With recent economic factors influencing food purchases, America is looking to the brown bag to save a few bucks. According to a new study from the market research firm NPD Group, weekday packed lunches among adults reached a new high in 2007, and this trend is expected to continue.
But “bagging it” doesn’t have to mean a boring turkey …

(ARA) – It’s no secret that Americans are busy, and getting together for dinner often seems like an extraordinary task. As food prices continue to increase, families are not only taking hits to their household budgets, they are experiencing long work hours, conflicting schedules and not finding enough time to cook a meal and have dinner together.
A June 2008 survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by eNation found that those responsible for planning meals usually spend an average of 30 minutes per day shopping for and preparing those meals, …