Potatoes are relief from high food prices
As corn and wheat costs rise, don’t forget the potato.
Arizona Daily Star
With corn and wheat costs going up, you might want to go against the grain and take another look at potatoes.
The Arizona Farm Bureau Federation anticipates that potatoes — which already were down in price in last quarter’s market basket survey — will be down again when the results of the next survey are released at the beginning of July, said spokeswoman Julie Murphree.
“Potatoes continue to be a real bargain for shoppers,” Murphree said.
It doesn’t appear that prices will be affected by all the flooding in other parts of the country because those areas are not the big potato producers, she said.
“The bigger [price] culprit continues to be energy, basically oil, and global demand for food across the board,” she said.
If states such as Washington and Idaho that historically offer larger potato supplies were to suddenly have an event that reduces harvests, prices could spike, she said.
She added that high prices of other foods such as corn will drive people toward potatoes, tightening the supply a bit.
When the prices go up, the growers don’t get any benefit from it, said Pete Garcia Jr., sales manager and packing-shed supervisor for Greer Farms in Waddell, Ariz. Greer tends 1,000 acres of corn for dairy feed, all kinds of lettuce, radishes, mixed greens and spinach. In April and May, the operation harvests red potatoes.
Growers average about the same price for a 50-pound box of potatoes nowadays as they did 20 years ago, Garcia said.
“The retail industry is what’s making the money,” he said.
And fuel costs have increased prices as well, he said.
Garcia noted that, as with many other grocery items, potatoes can be frozen for later use as a way to make grocery money last.
You can buy some spuds, cut them into quarters and freeze them or even partially cook them before freezing them, he said.
But the best way to save money in your grocery cart is to go back to foods that aren’t processed, said Murphree. That way, you get more nutrition, and usually more volume, for your money.
“The less processed your foods [are], if you go back to your basics — your meats, your potatoes — you’re probably going to find more value in your food basket,” she said.