Five Ways to Beat Rising Food Costs

With drought playing havoc with corn crops in the United States, there's been many a discussion of food prices increasing.

With the United Nations focusing on World Food Day this week, the French Agricultural Minister Stephane La Foll has stated that certain food groups should be placed in reserve for those developing countries who are vulnerable to price increases.

Le Foll also believes we need to reduce the amount of food wasted in developed countries - and to encourage more transparency for world food prices when issues affect supply.

Should food be limited to protect the supply? Is there a way to combat high food prices at the grocery store? It's time to take a look at the influence of corn on our grocery bills.
Canadians who want to insure their grocery bills aren't going to skyrocket should keep an eye on prices, which are predicted to increase between two and four percent.

Grocery items will definitely cost more in late 2012 and in 2013 due to prices spiking on one main ingredient: corn. How does this one ingredient affect the grocery cart?

1. Cereal - one of the main ingredients of households every morning includes corn and corn syrup, which means it will definitely become more expensive per box.

2. Soft drinks - many of the favourite fizzy drinks are sweetened with corn syrup and despite the plethora of diet options, the big sellers are still regular versions of Coke, Pepsi and Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

3. Popcorn - the most popular snack at the movie theatre will become more expensive and could eventually affect the cost of many movie snacks, many made with corn syrup.

4. Processed foods - your favourite frozen pizza, microwave lunch option or late night snack - check the label for corn or corn syrup, and watch the prices rise for these snack items.

5. Meat - many livestock are fed corn, which will push up prices (even with the recent e.coli tainted beef in Canada) so those steaks, chops, sausages and deli meats will start going up in cost.