Food prices force groups that offer square meals to cut corners
In lunchrooms throughout the Visalia School District, kids are about to notice what administrators are doing to save money in the face of rising food prices.
The chicken taquitos the students like so much will be dropped. So will the popular pizza pockets. The items (49 cents for a taquito; 58 cents for a pizza) are too pricey to keep on the menu -- especially when it is costing the district $110,000 more this year to serve milk than it did last year.
"Prices started to escalate last year. This year it hit us especially hard, but I see next year as being more difficult," said Lynnelle Grumbles, director of nutritional services for the Central California district's 18,000 students. Her costs rose 7% this year, but her funding is fixed -- and her budget is in the red. "School meal programs are at a breaking point," she said.
Around the country, managers of large-scale food programs are doing the same anxious math, paring costs any way they can and worrying that the squeeze might get tighter.
Military planners are considering switching troops from milkshakes to less expensive soy shakes. Federal prisons are cutting back on dessert. Schools are trimming workers' hours and replacing lasagna with more economical spaghetti. Infant-feeding programs are running on emergency funds. And federal officials have begun bartering for basics such as peanut butter to shore up depleted food banks.
Institutional budgets are usually set once a year, but managers have to feed their clients -- 31 million schoolchildren, not to mention hospital patients, soldiers, inmates and more -- regardless of how high prices climb.
Food costs are rising for many reasons.
Poor global harvests and drought have cut crop outputs. The weak U.S. dollar makes American commodities more attractive to consumers overseas and investors at home. Increasing demand for corn-derived ethanol means less cropland for food corn or other grains, such as wheat. India and China are consuming more, further tightening supplies. And soaring energy prices raise processing, retail and transportation costs. The average U.S. food item travels 1,500 miles before it is eaten.
Food prices rose 4% in 2007 and are on track to climb 5.5% in 2008. Most federal programs are already struggling to meet the costs of basics like meat, eggs and bread. And agricultural economists say prices haven't hit their ceiling yet.
