I just stopped at the grocery store on the way home from an appointment to pick up a couple of things. And this is what I saw:
Meadow Gold or Viva Milk, 1 gallon: $8.99
Life Cereal, 15 oz. box (that's the small box, folks!): $6.79
Bananas (shipped from Latin America) on sale: $1.09/lb. (locally grown bananas are costlier than those flown in--one of those things that make you go "hmmm")
Fuji Apples, on sale: $1.99/lb.
Fortunately, I didn't need bread. And because I can't consume a whole gallon of milk by myself within two weeks, I was lucky and got the 1/2 gallon of store-brand milk on sale at 2/$7.00. Life Cereal--the only one on sale that wasn't a sugary cereal--I scored at 2/$6.00. I also lucked out and got some yogurts on sale @ 10/$7.00! Yippee. As for the fruit, I opted to skip the fresh and stick with the canned goods at home.
I think the reason these costs stood out so much is because of the conversations I had with my home teachers last night. We were talking about the current cost of groceries leading to the need to keep chickens, the approaching hurricane season and getting our 72-hour-kits together into one quickly-grabbed container, and the need to have a storage of food and other items for possibilities like a natural disaster.
One of my home teachers is convinced that the shipping strike in the '70's led most locals to become obsessed with stockpiling toilet paper with even the whisper of a possible "disaster"--i.e.: hurricane, tsunami...or shipping strike.
I guess I really should start thinking about getting those chickens pretty soon. For today, though, the canned goods, water, and toilet paper in the closet will have to do.
In the meantime, I'm going to the beach. And hoping that this craziness will level off sometime soon.
