The Prime Rib has been known to DC insiders as the home of the power lunch for more than two decades. There, lawmakers, business tycoons, and other high-rollers work on the deals that shape America. It's a sight that would surprise most everyday Americans. No, it wouldn't be the décor, or the clientele, or the jacket-and-tie requirement that would supply the shock; it would be the menu, which boasts a $25 hamburger.
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As a media spokesperson for the sugar industry, I talk to reporters a lot. And right now, they all seem to want to talk about one thing: sugar prices. Many are confused about the difference between highly volatile world sugar prices, which have ranged from 6 cents to 30 cents per pound in the past five years, and U.S. prices, which tend to remain much steadier.
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Want to know who's really making the money off of rising food prices? Sometimes a picture says it all. Every time commodity prices are on the rise, we start hearing from the major food manufacturers that they are forced to raise their prices because of what is happening on the farm. This was especially true in 2008, when political opponents of ethanol were chiming in to try to convince the public that biofuels were to blame for higher grocery prices.
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For corn, wheat, and rice farmers, the strong prices they saw in 2007 and 2008 are but a distant memory by now. As a consumer, you probably haven't noticed.
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Farmers have always known that they're on the short end of the food dollar. In fact, cultivators of the land only see about 19 cents out of every dollar Americans spend to buy the food they grow. But a stat was thrown out during an August agricultural convention that even made the most grizzled farm veteran take notice.
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PORTALES, N.M.—Recessions usually mean big business for peanut producers as shoppers flock to low-cost, high-protein foods like peanut butter. But a highly publicized salmonella outbreak early this year linked to the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), combined with a 2008 bumper crop, has left peanut producers and businesses alike in a less than favorable position.
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NEW YORK (June 17, 2009)—Last month, a group of Texas farmers traveled more than 2,000 miles to New York City to meet with urban reporters and talk about the importance of our rural communities. As it turns out, these farmers weren't as far away from home as they might have thought.
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CHICAGO—Recession or not, people will still celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day, which is why candy companies make money in good times and in bad, says the National Confectioners Association (NCA).
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MINNEAPOLIS—If Kevin Garnett's picture suddenly disappeared from the Wheaties box, most grocery shoppers would notice the absence of the former Timberwolves star. But if the amount of cereal within that box shrank by an ounce or two, few people would even realize it.
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