When it rains, it pours. When it doesn't rain, your food bill goes up.
Save Your Food Budget from the Drought
How to work in advance to avoid price hikes at the grocery store.
Web2Carz Contributing Writer
Published: July 31st, 2012
T
he big news lately is that it just isn't raining enough. And it's also been extremely hot, which unless you've been hiding inside all summer, you're aware of. As a result, crops are suffering, and in turn, your grocery bill is probably climbing higher and higher, assuming you're buying any fresh produce. But you're not totally stuck; there are some things you can do now to avoid feeling the hit of a huge price increase later this summer.
First and foremost, buy things now and freeze them. This seems counterintuitive, as we've always been told that fresh produce is best, but the truth of the matter is that frozen produce has just about the same nutritional value as fresh, as long as you don't steam itto death to get it, you know, unfrozen.
Frozen produce has just about the same nutritional value as fresh, as long as you don't steam it to death to get it unfrozen.
With wheat prices having gone up nearly 50 percent, now might be the time to learn how to make bread. If you don't want to deal with things like yeast and rising times, you could learn how to make things like biscuits and quick breads.
Freezing fruit can be a little trickier, as some (like berries) will become really mushy after defrosting. It's best to freeze berries with the intention of using them either in cooked sauces or toppings, or to keep them frozen and use them in place of ice in smoothies and milkshakes. Things like bananas are great for freezing, and you can even make pseudo-ice cream with them—just freeze for several hours, then use your food processor to blend it into an ice cream-like consistency.
Unforunately, with droughts and food prices on the rise, there's not a lot most of us can do unless we have the room to stockpile frozen produce and bags and bags of flour. Instead, try to purchase produce that isn't affected by the drought and if necessary, you can alter your diet to cut back or leave out things like corn and wheat, though this remedy is a little more extreme and would be a lot more difficult.
