You Can't Eat an iPad

Do you need a reason to grow your own food?   Commodity prices have been rising for years and it appears that rising food costs are gaining more and more speed.

According to MarketWatch.com food inflation will be on the rise during 2011.  Here's an excerpt from a past article in late 2010:

"Food inflation will “accelerate” during the final months of 2010 and into the first six months of 2011, especially for meat, cereal and dairy products..."

CNBC also had a segment recently along those same lines of thought. 
Manufacturing companies have become more and more efficient. They're doing more with less and making more profits as a result.  Service companies are implementing technology applications that make them more efficient. They are servicing more people with the same or less effort and probility has improved.  Car repair shops have gotten to the point that without the aid of microchips and software programs, it's nearly impossible to diagnose causes and effects.

One need look no further than the myriad of news articles or stock prices to see plenty of other examples.

While businesses have reduced costs and improved profits, commodities such as vegetables, grains, and fruits have continued to rise.  Candy bars and cookies have become smaller, but gone up in price.  Carbonated beverages have nearly doubled in price over the past decade. I recall my mom buying 4 loaves of bread for $1 and 5 loaves for $1 when it was on sale.  Now a trip to the grocery store's bread aisle creates a certain "pucker factor" at times with the price of 1 loaf of premium bread brands selling for $2 or more. Bananas, fresh fruits, nuts, and milk are other examples.

We can apply business principles to food production and slow down rising food costs a little, but we may not always like the side effects accompanying that approach.  If you're interested in some examples of those side effects, you may want to rent the movie Food Inc. sometime.

A CNBC guest in the video link I posted above explained his point of view about how good the business environment has become in a reference to falling iPad prices.  In an opposing view about the shifting economics, another guest summed up the situation we all are faced with in a simple, but blunt example: 

"the unfortunate reality is I can't eat an I Pad".

How right he is. 

You can buy a few packs of seed for $20 or less, prepare a simple garden in your backyard, and grow the equivalent of 100's or even 1,000s of dollars in produce for the basic cost of very little more than elbow grease and lots of perspiration.

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Eat for Energy