University Daily Kansan
Friday, March 30,1973
7
Students Beef Down Diets To Compensate for Price
By JERRY TOTTEN
Kansan Staff Writer
Many University of Kansas students, faced with rising food prices, are changing their eating habits, reflecting a nationwide trend.
According to the consumer price index, food prices have risen more than three per cent since Jan. 1, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported an increase of at least six per cent for the year.
Students who try to live on earnings from the summer or on fixed incomes notice that
"I don't buy meat anymore," said Julie Chappell, a secretary in the special education department and part-time student.
"I eat a lot of cheese, eggs, fruits,
vegetables, rice and potatoes, so I'm getting
plenty of protein in my diet," Chappell said.
"I refuse to buy meat at such ridiculous
prices. You can live without it, and maybe
you'll feel better in the long run.
"IF YOU WANT to eat good steak, it's almost cleaner to go to a restaurant."
"People are attempting to shop more wisely than they have in a long time," said Keith Lucas, manager of the Dillon Store, 1740 Massachusetts Mall. "We are creating meats, and are using more meat substitutes, such as macaroni and saaghetti, to stretch their money further."
Lucas said he thought that people weren't boycotting meat because of a national meat boycott but that they were changing their food buying habits to meet their needs.
Married couples with children are finding
they have to tighter their food budgets
considering
Paul Callaghan, Lawrence junior and father of a 3-year-old boy, said, "We buy only chicken and hamster. We used to afford an occasional steak, but that's not now."
"We BUY ALL store brands of canned goods instead of name brands like we used to, and we use 2 per cent milk instead of whole milk.
"Six months ago we spent $20-25 a week on groceries; now we spend $30-35. I have a part-time job, and my wife, Jan, is a secretary at the University, so we can afford it, but we've had to cut out the more expensive foods."
Bruce Littie, assistant instructor in English, said he saved money by following newspaper ads and shopping at several grocery stores in search of bargains.
"I don't pay more than a dollar a pound
on what much meat, we cut down
consumption by 50%."
"We buy chicken, turkey, lamb and inexpensive fish in place of beef," he said. "We also eat more vegetables, such as beans and lentils. I'm not going to boycott meat entirely, but we're certainly cutting down on it."
NEIL LEFF, Topeka freshman, said, "I go out to eat more often at cheaper places. With the hassles of cleaning up dishes and the high costs of food, I think it's easier to eat out at cheap places where you get a lot of food for a little money.
"The best way to buy food is to find a friend whose failure is in the service so they help."
George Paulson, manager of Sambo's Restaurant, 1511 W. 28rd St., said he thought that people were eating out more often because the high prices for meat in the grocery stores.
HE SAID THAT despite an increase in business, his restaurant was faced with a financially difficult situation because of the rising prices of meat, poultry and produce.
"It's almost impossible to live with these prices," Paulson said.
He said the rising cost of supplies would probably bring about an increase in menu prices.
Other restaurant managers in Lawrence said they had not raised menu prices yet, but they soon would have to unless food prices stabilized.
Students living in residence halls said that the quality of their meals had declined.
"I just don't get full eatin' dorm meals anymore," said Marty Jones, Overland Park freshman. "Last semester we got kind of meat and better quality meat.
"Selections at dinner are poor this semester. The ingredients just don't go together, but they're thrown together in a baking dish or a pan for three nights a week to keep from starving."
LENOIR EKDAHAL, director of food service for the residence hall system, said that the basic menus for the residence halls had not changed but that the food service was trying to offer new dishes, such as cheese dishes, as substitutes for meat.
A tight budget, has not caused items to be eliminated from the menus, Ekkahl said, but the bails are trying to cut down on waste and helping students to take only what they can eat.
"If the students want to boycott meat, we'll certainly cut down on it," she said. Next week, during the national meat bake-off be offering several dishes without meat."
Price Survey Shows Rises For 5 Months
A survey of Lawrence grocery stores this week indicates that meat is leading the soaring food prices, going up in several states. The average price for a similar survey was taken last October.
A team of Kansan reporters checked prices in nine Lawrence grocery stores this week. Results of the survey are compared to results of a survey last fall in the table on this page.
Despite the much publicized wheat sales last summer and the consequent rise in the price of wheat, the price of bread stayed the same or dropped in most markets.
The meat prices that the President froze in his television message Thursday night had almost reached $1 a pound for hamburger.
Increases of 39 per cent were common in the price of eggs, and some rose by more than 10 per cent.
At one store, the price of t-Bone steak increased 85 per cent, and at another it rose by 40%.
The price of chicken increased less than beef. Most increases were near 25 per cent, but one store dropped its price by 25 per cent.
The price of ham was almost $1 a pound in all stores. On price increase was 118 per cent.
Most stores did not increase their price for peanut butter. It has been suggested that consumers eat more peanut butter as a protein substitute for meat.
Lettuce, which is in season now, is selling now at about the same prices it sold for in last year's spring.
Unbalance of Supply and Demand Causes Increase, Economists Say
Recent record price increases can be attributed to a feed grain shortage and the wage and price freeze instigated in August 2011, according to Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI (FAA) measures
By CHRIS STEVENS Kansan Staff Writer
Weiss explained that under Phase II, part of Nixon's price control plan, prices were frozen at the level where supply met demand in August 1971. Since then, wages have risen and the increased buying power of consumers has increased demand for meat and expensive food items, mainly convenient ready-made and frozen foods.
Food prices surged upward in February in the sharpest one-month increase since 1951. Last month grocery prices rose 2.4 per cent, and meat increased 5 per cent.
Weiss said farmers were aware of the increase in demand but could not increase production.
A CORN BLIGHT for two consecutive years, drought, crop failures abroad and the grain purchase last summer by the county have combined to push feed grain prices up.
Ronald R. Olsen, professor of economics,
said the price freeze disallowed any supply
response. The farmers had no indication of
what consumers would or would not buy.
Olsen said that high prices get a response. Farmers raise more beef to meet demands and to stabilize the market. Controlled prices fail to induce a supply response; prices are lower, and when demand is be retained, and when demands increase, the price would naturally rise, he said.
In the complex food industry, Olsen said, a year or more may elapse between the time a farmer increases his volume commitments on a commodity and the time the produce reaches the market and affects prices.
Keeping Down Prices
Planting 'Victory Garden' More Fun Than a Saving
By BYRON MYERS
Kansan Staff Writer
When U.S. Secretary of Labor Peter J. Brenman suggested to his wife recently that she plant a "victory garden" to keep the grocery bill down, he had the right idea. But he should have counted on planting a large garden.
According to local vegetable seed salesmen, planting a garden for foodstuffs is profitable only if one does so on a large scale.
The term "victory garden" has been resurrected from World War II, when those at home grew their own foodstuffs to make more food available for troops overseas.
Fred Pence, owner of Pence's Garden Center, 15 E. 15th St., said that during World War II, his family grew from an acre to an acre and a half in a barn so do because it had a place for storage.
Inquiries to Lawrence area seed retailers this week revealed that gardens become little more than a hobby unless one is willing to plant on a large scale, but doing so can and will save money if the gardener is willing to put forth the effort.
Other seed salesmen said their customers dens primarily as a hobby not really to grow seeds.
Growing ones own garden gives a person a chance for versatility. Pence said that he intended to try growing peanuts and sweet corn this year.
Pence said that it's not really very hard to grow a garden. His firm has more than 90 information sheets and three or four people in his household customers about growing gardens.
Pence suggested potatoes be planted on top of the ground and covered with about four inches of straw. When the time comes to dig them up, all the grower must do is pull up the vine, and the potato comes with it.
"We have a 40-acre place with about six acres reserved for a garden. I give the employees the right to pick their own spot out there, and can grow anything but weeds," he said.
He also recommended that pepper, eggplant and pumpkins be planted after the last frost. He said that onions, lettuce and radishes should be planted by now and that broccoli and cauliflower should be planted before April 10.
According to other gardeners, the key to successful gardening is crop rotation, good fertilizer and a willingness to work with the plants.
WEESS SAID that meat packers and distributors buying from the farmer were forced to pay more for livestock during the war. Farm commodities were not subject to prices in these markets, so they determined in competitive auction markets, Weiss said, so the farmer's price altered with the auction market, but the packers also were forced to retain prices at the same level.
To meet demands, the farmer increases production when prices are high, he said. When prices tumble because of overproduction, the farmers withhold production until scarcity pushes prices up again, Olsen said.
Weiss said that under the percentage increase rate set during the freeze, the producers and retailers were unable to pass the increase along. Prices could increase by up to 50 percent in the retailer and the producer were forced to absorb the rising costs of food, she said.
LELAND PRITCHARD, professor of economics, said the per capita consumption of meat had risen despite an increase in production of livestock and a reduction of foreign import quotas. Demand has risen due to increased offset by increased production, he said.
Once the freeze was lifted and Phase III was put into effect, Weiss said, the absorbed prices of Phase II were forced on the consumer at once. The sharp price rise in February, the first whole month in Phase III, appears to confirm her explanation.
Pritchard said a boycott would have a psychological effect. If the producer and retailer knows that the consumer is "looking down their threats," they are apt to lower their profit margins, Pritchard said.
Because of soaring prices, Americans are planning a meat bovoycott that has gained widespread attention.
Olsen and Pritchard agreed that the effects of a bovett would be negligible.
PRITCHARD SAID HE saw no reason to impose government controls. He indicated that the mark-up process should be controlled on a dollar-for-dollar basis, but the farmers could not control competitively determined prices.
"The best prescription is not to interfere." Olsen said.
Olsen said he did not see any great effect produced by a freeze or boycott approach. A boycott might temporarily lower prices, but they would go up again, be said.
Olsen said there was a necessity for a substitute element for beef and an expansion of feed grain production to alleviate the situation. He said meat prices might stabilize by late summer or early fall of this year.
ITEMS
White Bread, 16 oz. Manor
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
White Bread, 24 oz. Wonder
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
4.3
Eggs, Grade A Large
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
3.7
Eggs, Grade A Medium
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
56
Butter 1 lb, Land O'Lakes
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
56
Imperial Margarine
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Milk, 1 gal, 2%
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
1.11
March 27
Percentage change
1.13
March 27
Percentage change
1.8
Milk, 1 gal, Whole
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
1.15
March 27
Percentage change
1.19
March 27
Percentage change
3.5
Jiff Peanut Butter
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Miracle Whip, 1 qt.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Libby's Peaches, 29 oz.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
11
Lefuce, Head
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Fresh Green Beans
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
26
White Grapes
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
X
X
Percentage change
X
X
French's Mustard, 9 oz.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage Change
10
Folger's Coffee, 6 oz.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Heinz Ketchup
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
7.4
Libby's Green Beans
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
7.4
C&H Sugar, 5 lb.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Pillsbury Flour, 5 lb.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Pillsbury Flour, 5 lb.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
14
Quaker Oatmeal, 18 oz.
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Frozen Green Beans, Store Brand
Oct. 12
March 27
Percentage change
0
Orange Juice, 1/2 pts., Minute Mai