I've been working on our January budget today and I'm starting to wonder why our food expenses are so high. Is is because we eat a lot of filet mignon? Maine lobster? Not really. We are a beans and rice family, primarily. Of course, we buy lots of fresh produce and the occasional box of cereal (a big treat) and everything seems to just really add up. I perused my receipts from Fresh Direct (our primary food source) and I see that weekly we spend anywhere from $20 to $30 on MILK. Just milk. That's over $100 a MONTH. Now, I am considering making MILK its own budget category. After all, I budget for internet service and that is only $29.95 a month. So...why is milk so expensive? Are market forces to blame? Is there a massive bovine beverage shortage? What, pray tell, is going on? Are cows on a production strike? Well, it turns out the that the government instituted price controls on milk in the 1930s. These price controls are price floors or minimum prices below which one cannot legally sell milk. Huh? Minimum prices discourage low cost competition. That is, if someone wants to sell milk below the set price, they cannot. There are a myriad of other programs supporting the artificially high milk prices. There is the Dairy Price Support program from the 1940s, the Income Price support program from 2002 and others too numerous to list. These programs are all just ways to raise the price of milk on people like you and me. Next up...finding a milk alternative.
Here and
here are articles on the subject.
3 comments:
We don't even drink milk, not even Dan. We just use half and half in our coffee. And Dan drinks smoothies that we make from scratch with yogurt, banana and water or a splash of fruit juice.
I don't even think milk is as essential as the dairy lobby has made us all believe. In other cultures, once a child is weaned, milk is not a big part of the diet. Besides, I've always thought it was a huge conflict of interest that the agency responsible for promoting U.S. agriculture also brings us the Food Pyramid. And if you look closely, the foods that are highly recommended - dairy and grains - have federal crutches - price supports and subsidies. In fact, there was a tussle between the ag department and the Department of Health and Human Services over which one would set nutrition policy. I recommend Food Politics by Marion Nestle. Very good, very eye opening book.
I know milk is more expensive there so I feel for ya. Here it's $3 a gallon times 7 gallons is $21 a week for us!! Here's an option. You can give the kids other sources of calcium (yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) and stick to 2-3 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to help cut down. We do morning and afternoon snacks as juice.
Thank you. I will have to check out that book Josee. I'm really working on cutting out milk completely. I will look into the yogurt smoothies.
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