This weekend I picked up my latest copy of Texas Neighbors, and one image caught my eye under a story titled, “What’s Fueling Food Prices“
I have always known Farmers and Ranchers receive a small portion of every dollar spent on retail food purchases, but 44% of costs attributed to fuel, transportation, and enegy? That’s a hefty sum. As described in the story by Texas Farm Bureau, foods that have more processing will have farther to travel and less of the retail price actually covers raw food products. Interesting…
Before you rant off, complain, and tell everyone this is more evidence to eat whole, local foods or blame ethanol production, take this food for thought. Farmers and Ranchers pay the same input costs as all Americans. We pay the same to fuel our pickups, the same for retail groceries, the same to watch satelite television. In America we still have it pretty good when you consider we only pay 10% of our income for food purchases.
And, as for the men and women who grow our food, they will continue providing the produce, grains and dairy products that stock our grocery store shelves, while trying to maintain profitable and lasting businesses.
“Everybody has to make a living, and my fellow farmers and ranchers are no exception. Though they love the lifestyle, they still have to be able to feed their families, pay for the roofs over their heads, pay electric bills and send their children to college,” Huggins says. “It’s nice to think that food could be almost free, but we have to make a profit to stay in business.”
