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By Bobbie Whitehead
Companies selling seed, plants and preserving supplies say rising food prices, particularly with fruits and vegetables, have consumers this year looking to grow food in their own backyards as well as preserve what they’ve grown.
“There are more gardeners than there were in the past,” said Neil Drake, owner of Grayson and Emma’s Garden Spot in Courtland. “People are raising a few things because they’re going to be home more and are working in the yard more, and they’re just not traveling as much.”
Companies selling seed, plants and preserving supplies say rising food prices, particularly with fruits and vegetables, have consumers this year looking to grow food in their own backyards as well as preserve what they’ve grown.
“There are more gardeners than there were in the past,” said Neil Drake, owner of Grayson and Emma’s Garden Spot in Courtland. “People are raising a few things because they’re going to be home more and are working in the yard more, and they’re just not traveling as much.”
Among his customers, Drake said people now are now buying the bare minimum of what they need.
“It’s tough; we’re still busy as far as people coming in, but people are a lot more frugal about what they’re buying,” said Drake, who grows and sells his own produce as well as produce he buys from local farmers. “In other words, where a customer used to come in a say, ’Give me a dozen ears of corn,’ they’re now asking for five ears.”
A number of people are waiting on local produce to put things up because they know the local produce will be fresher and the prices will be a lot more economical for them, said Drake, adding that about 90 percent of what he is selling is local produce.
Customers can find Ball® jars, pickling lime, and bulk spices at Grayson and Emma’s Garden Spot, which Drake said some customers are buying more of, especially now since certain produce items are in season.
The increase in the sale of pickling and canning supplies has been noticed by Jarden Home Brands, which owns the Ball® and Kerr brands. The company has reported that more than 70% of 1,800 respondents to a recent survey at its http://www.freshpreserving.com web site plan to preserve more foods this year as a means of saving money.
"It's no coincidence that we've experienced an increase in sales of Ball® jars and preserving products this year," said Chris Scherzinger, Vice President of Marketing for Jarden Home Brands, according to a press release. "Typically in a down economy, with no end to rising food costs in sight, consumers will find entrepreneurial ways to save, such as fresh preserving and safely storing bulk items."
The company reported a 28 percent increase “year-to-date since 2007” in the retail sales of its Ball® food preserving products – a 40 percent increase in the past year in sales of its large Ball® jars as well as doubled sales of its plastic freezing containers.
With the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting that the Consumer Price Index for all food “is projected to increase 4.5 to 5.5 percent” in 2008, customers are buying smaller amounts of food and are thinking about preserving more.
In addition to the projected increase, the USDA also reports that “the CPI for food increased 4.0 percent in 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990.” Factors that the USDA lists as causes for the increase include “stronger global demand for food, increased U.S. agricultural exports resulting from a stronger demand and a weaker dollar, weather-related production problems in some areas of the world, and the increased use of some food commodities, such as corn, for bioenergy uses.”
In its report, however, the USDA said it hasn’t figured in the losses from natural disasters such as the flooding that has occurred in the Midwest. For more information on the projected costs of food, click here
“It’s tough; we’re still busy as far as people coming in, but people are a lot more frugal about what they’re buying,” said Drake, who grows and sells his own produce as well as produce he buys from local farmers. “In other words, where a customer used to come in a say, ’Give me a dozen ears of corn,’ they’re now asking for five ears.”
A number of people are waiting on local produce to put things up because they know the local produce will be fresher and the prices will be a lot more economical for them, said Drake, adding that about 90 percent of what he is selling is local produce.
Customers can find Ball® jars, pickling lime, and bulk spices at Grayson and Emma’s Garden Spot, which Drake said some customers are buying more of, especially now since certain produce items are in season.
The increase in the sale of pickling and canning supplies has been noticed by Jarden Home Brands, which owns the Ball® and Kerr brands. The company has reported that more than 70% of 1,800 respondents to a recent survey at its http://www.freshpreserving.com web site plan to preserve more foods this year as a means of saving money.
"It's no coincidence that we've experienced an increase in sales of Ball® jars and preserving products this year," said Chris Scherzinger, Vice President of Marketing for Jarden Home Brands, according to a press release. "Typically in a down economy, with no end to rising food costs in sight, consumers will find entrepreneurial ways to save, such as fresh preserving and safely storing bulk items."
The company reported a 28 percent increase “year-to-date since 2007” in the retail sales of its Ball® food preserving products – a 40 percent increase in the past year in sales of its large Ball® jars as well as doubled sales of its plastic freezing containers.
With the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting that the Consumer Price Index for all food “is projected to increase 4.5 to 5.5 percent” in 2008, customers are buying smaller amounts of food and are thinking about preserving more.
In addition to the projected increase, the USDA also reports that “the CPI for food increased 4.0 percent in 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990.” Factors that the USDA lists as causes for the increase include “stronger global demand for food, increased U.S. agricultural exports resulting from a stronger demand and a weaker dollar, weather-related production problems in some areas of the world, and the increased use of some food commodities, such as corn, for bioenergy uses.”
In its report, however, the USDA said it hasn’t figured in the losses from natural disasters such as the flooding that has occurred in the Midwest. For more information on the projected costs of food, click here
Jarden Home Brands reports that it has experienced an increase in the sales of its Ball(R) jars and preserving supplies this year.
More folks opting to garden, preserve as food prices rise
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