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What a drag...Almost every morning my breakfast includes fresh-ground peanut butter I have ground myself in Freddy's peanut butter machine. Love the stuff! Even better than almond butter. (They have a machine for almond butter also)
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/14/markets/...er_prices/
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Brace yourselves, peanut butter lovers -- prices are set to spike following one of the worst peanut harvest seasons growers have seen in years.
Prices for a ton of runner peanuts, commonly used to make peanut butter, hit nearly $1,200 this week, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up from just $450 per ton a year ago.
It won't be long before consumers see this price increase reflected on store shelves.
Kraft (KFT, Fortune 500) will raise prices for its Planters brand peanut butter by 40% starting Oct. 31, while ConAgra (CAG, Fortune 500) expects increases of more than 20% for its Peter Pan brand.
A spokesperson for Unilever (UL), which makes Skippy, would say only that it's watching the situation "very closely."
Representatives for J.M. Smucker (SJM, Fortune 500), which makes Jif, did not respond to a request for comment, though the Associated Press reported that Jif's wholesale prices are set to rise 30% in November.
What's to blame for this sticky situation? The intense heat and drought that hit the southern U.S. this year, said John Beasley, a professor of crop physiology and management at the University of Georgia.
"It was just unmerciful, and we had a lot of problems setting the crop," he said. "I literally walked some fields that had zero yield."
Safe havens? Gold, the yen and peanut butter
In addition, Beasley said, high prices last year for other crops, such as cotton, corn and soy beans, led farmers who might otherwise have grown peanuts to focus their efforts elsewhere.
Overall, U.S. peanut production will hit 3.6 billion pounds this year, down 13% from last year, according to a Department of Agriculture report released this week.
Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter and consume more than six pounds of peanut products each year, according to The National Peanut Board, a farmer-funded research group.
Sales may not be so smooth during the looming price crunch. In any case, though, a shift in peanut butter consumption shouldn't make a huge difference to the nutritional quality of most Americans' diets, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.
"For the average person in America," she said, "it would be a good idea to eat less of almost everything."
(isn't she speshall??  )
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Someone on Wall St. will still make a ton of money.  Sorry.  We will do as we always have when a product spikes, buy something else...
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10-15-2011, 08:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-15-2011, 08:24 PM by Crone. Edited 1 time in total.)
(10-15-2011, 07:44 PM)Valuesize Wrote: Someone on Wall St. will still make a ton of money. Sorry. We will do as we always have when a product spikes, buy something else...
But...but...but...you don't understand, VS!
Not only am I addicted to fresh peanut butter, I am also addicted to peanuts in the shell. It's the old smoking thing? It sometimes still haunts me and unshelled peanuts keep my fingers and my mouth busy.
Hmmm...sounds like a personal problem, eh? 
Maybe I'm part squirrel...
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Stock up on them Crone. I believe that you can vacuum seal them and then keep them in the refrigerator for a very long time and they will stay fresh.
As far as the jars of PB, they also last a very long time if unopened and again, if people like PB looks like they ought to buy ahead and hope for a good crop next year.
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(10-15-2011, 08:43 PM)imaham Wrote: Stock up on them Crone. I believe that you can vacuum seal them and then keep them in the refrigerator for a very long time and they will stay fresh.
As far as the jars of PB, they also last a very long time if unopened and again, if people like PB looks like they ought to buy ahead and hope for a good crop next year. I've been looking at those vacuum sealers...I think they must really prevent freezer burn on meat, yes?
Jarred PB isn't my favorite, I usually grind peanuts in the machine at the store, but jars of peanut butter are a good food to stow away, anyway. I've been buying a little freeze dried stuff here and there, too. Never hurts! 
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10-16-2011, 03:11 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2011, 03:16 AM by PonderThis. Edited 2 times in total.)
I've heard you mention freeze dried food before. Have you ever eaten any of this stuff? I haven't eaten any freeze dried food for decades now, when I used to go backpacking, but I still remember one particular trip where freeze dried food was about all we ate, and that stuff tasted like crap. I remember wishing I had some of the canned good others were carrying that weren't so concerned about weight. Maybe freeze dried food has improved since then, I don't know. It didn't used to be too good.
And if this is "survival food" you're stocking up on, a neighbor stocked up on that stuff before Y2K, and he had a hell of a time ever getting his family to eat any of that stuff afterwards. I would guess most of it ended up going to waste.
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For Crone, 
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(10-16-2011, 03:11 AM)PonderThis Wrote: I've heard you mention freeze dried food before. Have you ever eaten any of this stuff? I haven't eaten any freeze dried food for decades now, when I used to go backpacking, but I still remember one particular trip where freeze dried food was about all we ate, and that stuff tasted like crap. I remember wishing I had some of the canned good others were carrying that weren't so concerned about weight. Maybe freeze dried food has improved since then, I don't know. It didn't used to be too good.
And if this is "survival food" you're stocking up on, a neighbor stocked up on that stuff before Y2K, and he had a hell of a time ever getting his family to eat any of that stuff afterwards. I would guess most of it ended up going to waste.
It's gotten a lot better!
I'm not into the 'survival food' mode, we live in a 500 sq ft cottage..but...the 'experts' say a wise person should put away a couple weeks of food and water supplies, no? We are on a well, so we have no water when the power goes out. I really really like having water to flush with. I've been through 9/11, blizzards and hurricane force storms....sometimes it's nice just to hole up at home.
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10-16-2011, 08:31 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2011, 08:32 AM by PonderThis. Edited 1 time in total.)
No, I didn't realize they had freeze dried water now. I wonder what they rehydrate it with?
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I almost never buy peanut butter. I like it with a little salt, so I tend to buy the adams salted, that isn't hydrogenated. That's my problem with the fresh grind peanut butter. It's a bit bland for me. They took out the machine at winco I notice.
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(10-16-2011, 09:20 AM)Tiamat Wrote: I almost never buy peanut butter. I like it with a little salt, so I tend to buy the adams salted, that isn't hydrogenated. That's my problem with the fresh grind peanut butter. It's a bit bland for me. They took out the machine at winco I notice.
It really depends on the peanuts the store buys...here in GP, I can't stand the organic stuff from Ray's, but the stuff at Freddy's is tasty. I just add a little sea salt and stir it in. In the fresh stuff, the oil hasn't separated yet.
I've never been to a Winco..am I missing out?
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(10-16-2011, 10:02 AM)Crone Wrote: I've never been to a Winco..am I missing out?
Winco (where I live) has the best prices of any grocery store around.
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I would consider Winco to be competing in Medford with Food 4 Less and Sherms Thunderbird. Grants Pass doesn't have any good grocery shopping.
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10-16-2011, 10:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-16-2011, 10:37 AM by Crone. Edited 1 time in total.)
(10-16-2011, 10:26 AM)PonderThis Wrote: I would consider Winco to be competing in Medford with Food 4 Less and Sherms Thunderbird. Grants Pass doesn't have any good grocery shopping.
I am quite happy with Fred Meyer. As a matter of fate, I adore the place. It's clean, well laid out, I can get just about anything I'm looking for from electronics to underwear and I enjoy most of their employees. (who are union)
I get 10 cents off each gallon of gas and, depending on how much we've spent, we get a coupon in the mail every so often for $15 up to $50 off a purchase.
If I were shopping for a large family, I would most likely have to pinch pennies more tightly, but right now between Freddy's, Grocery Outlet, Cartwrights Valley Meats and an occasional trip to Costco, I'm good!
And, the best part is, after living in NYC, we don't have to schlep it all onto the subway or bus, then up to the 4th floor...we just load it into car and zoom zoom zoom. 
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Crone, you never did say where you lived in NYC. I had an apartment for awhile on East 90th Street between First and Second when I worked downtown. It still took me an hour and fifteen minutes to get to work despite living in the city. Someday there will be a Second Avenue subway line....
I used to love peanut butter but that stuff is fattening. It tastes good spread on an apple, or a piece of celery and even carrots. Alas, we don't eat it anymore. My grandson's favorite thing to eat is a PBJ, though, so we bought a couple of huge jars to tide us over until the 'crisis' ends.
Wanna bet that when the prices of the peanuts themselves go back down if there is a better growing season next year that the price will stay the same? Anyone wanna take that bet?
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(10-16-2011, 12:45 PM)TennisMom Wrote: Crone, you never did say where you lived in NYC. I had an apartment for awhile on East 90th Street between First and Second when I worked downtown. It still took me an hour and fifteen minutes to get to work despite living in the city. Someday there will be a Second Avenue subway line....
I used to love peanut butter but that stuff is fattening. It tastes good spread on an apple, or a piece of celery and even carrots. Alas, we don't eat it anymore. My grandson's favorite thing to eat is a PBJ, though, so we bought a couple of huge jars to tide us over until the 'crisis' ends.
Wanna bet that when the prices of the peanuts themselves go back down if there is a better growing season next year that the price will stay the same? Anyone wanna take that bet?
I'm not going to bet you because the odds are WAY on your side.
We lived in Staten Island, withing walking distance from the ferry. It wasn't Manhattan, but the view of the harbor, Manhattan and Jersey were BEAUTIFUL! I worked quite a while at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I would take the ferry, walk past the American Indian Museum and take the 4 up to 86th and then hoof it for those loooooong blocks over to Fifth.
That 2nd Avenue line is SO needed. Sometimes I would walk across the platform and take the 6, the local, because the 4 would be so packed.
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Mmmmm.... Peanut Butter on apple slices is one of my favorite snacks!
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(10-16-2011, 12:45 PM)TennisMom Wrote: Wanna bet that when the prices of the peanuts themselves go back down if there is a better growing season next year that the price will stay the same? Anyone wanna take that bet?
I might bet you There are several peanut brands and I doubt they are all in collusion like the oil companies. So if the farmers get a good crop and sell to all the PB people I would think they WOULD compete with each other like they always do. Isn't this completion what controls the prices?
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