Comments on: Food prices

By: salt

salt — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 07:16:30 +0000

I’d say the most important thing is the cost of vegetables, fruit, fish, and good quality meat. All of those (except lamb, which is a luxury product*, really) have consistently risen for a number of years. TBH the fact that coke, white bread, and other processed grain-based foods have dropped in price isn’t exactly a good thing for society.

*I mean, I’m as happy as anyone here that lamb racks are falling in price, but I doubt that makes much difference to people trying to feed a young family on a budget.

By: mara

mara — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:01:19 +0000

Does that fat woman Tariana Turia, who, thanks to the NZ taxpayer, could afford to pay for a belly tuck, realise that many more of her mokopuna are now hungrier because the price of fags has now skyrocketed and there is less cash to feed these kids? This moral crusade of hers, aided and abetted by John Key for political convenience, is making me puke. She should lower herself and go to a Mall in south Auckland to see what her whanau are now spending on their kids, after taking the cost of smokes into account.

By: Prince

Prince — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:54:19 +0000

Must be so discouraging for whingers when the facts don’t match their whining. Dept of Stats don’t base their figures on ‘a packet of coffee’ – they use an actual volume. But hey, better to go with the conspiracy figure and ignore the facts.

By: Graeme Edgeler

Graeme Edgeler — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:14:02 +0000

Your two graphs are identical. Is this some sort of fractal?

[DPF: Ta, fixed]

By: s.russell

s.russell — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:44:28 +0000

KevinH,
I think you’ll find the the statisticians are not stupid, and allow for this.

Also, I suspect that the big driver of recent spikes have been international commodity prices, something that is a) largely beyond NZ control, and b) good, because as a net food producer this increases national income.

By: lofty

lofty — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:53:54 +0000

You can make statistics say whatever you like eg:

Statistically 6 out the 7 dwarves aren’t Happy.

By: Nick K

Nick K — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:51:43 +0000

If you look since the peak of 1986, food prices have fallen since then. Thank you Roger Douglas.

By: Manolo

Manolo — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:46:06 +0000

You’re almost there, RRM.
You have the lefty credentials, so it should be easy to apply for Green Party membership and your life will be complete.

By: RRM

RRM — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:28:23 +0000

Marrying a vegetarian who can cook has been a good move for RRM.

I feel a lot healthier, the food is tastier, and the ingredients of an average meal are far less expensive!

(I still find ways of sneaking the occasional steak or lamb chops in though… )

By: KevinH

KevinH — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:23:17 +0000

Has anyone noticed that although the prices for grocery items has not increased dramatically, the content quantity of the goods has however decreased. For instance instant coffee comes in 80 gram sachets instead of 100 grams and also chocolate bars have shrunk by the same amount.
Sure the prices haven’t increased but you get less for your money than previously.

By: Manolo

Manolo — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:09:24 +0000

Carlos, are you sure yours is not Maori land?
Be careful, your produce could be subject to a Treaty claim or confiscated.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:06:07 +0000

I’ve recently built and planted raised beds and planter boxes in my very small yard. I have been growing lots of organic Red Russian kale, Bright lights silverbeet, beetroot, tomatoes, rock melon, Lebanese cucumbers, parsley, dill, fennel, mizuna, purple carrots, chives, rhubarb, celery, corriander, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, rocket and lettuce.

It’s my first thing growing anything since I was a kid. I love it. No sprays or chemical fertilisers. Just compost and rock dust to keep the soil producing nutritious, organic crops. I mostly just go out there and pick some of it and juice it and drink it with an apple added to sweeten it up. Next year I’m going to put wires along the fence and grow even more. Now when I go grocery shopping, I hardly ever need to buy vegetables.

By: pq

pq — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:04:22 +0000

diizzy give facts ,

By: Manolo

Manolo — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:58:05 +0000

The spin will make any government supporter dizzy but proud.

By: pq

pq — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:39:03 +0000

the world has changed, it costs me $NZ 250 to feed myself and wife and sometimes others,
you know Spaniards they arrive at your door, and what can you say, I can not say
I will not feed you my friend Catalonia

By: anonymouse

anonymouse — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:23:28 +0000

Your 25% food price spike coincides nicely with the 1979 oil shock, which I suspect sent the price of anything that required moving or fuel to harvest up hugely…..

By: Andrei

Andrei — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:22:02 +0000

There’s lies, damn lies and statistics and here of course is a case in point – the food you need to sustain life has gone up markedly particularly meat, poultry and fish but also grain based products, while things like non alcoholic beverages and stuffed olives are cheaper which given the way the index is calculated give the result (this is sort of in the story) but for those struggling to feed their families on a fixed income the struggle has increased while the Governments cheerleaders proclaim their prowess in making the world a better place.