Got Wheat? Bread Costs a Lot of Dough

By EMILY KLEIN

Certainly the last thing consumers want to hear right now is that the prices of many of their favorite food items are climbing.

Many Americans already are breaking the bank to keep their gas tanks full, and now it seems the rising cost of wheat is impacting the cost consumers will pay for some common food products.

A recent Associated Press report showed that the average cost for white bread in 1998 was just 85 cents per pound and in February 2007 it was up to $1.03. The price rose to $1.32 per pound last month, according to federal data.

And the impact goes far beyond the weekly loaf of bread. Pasta, pizza, cereal and other wheat and flour-dependent products are getting more expensive to help offset the price of wheat, as well.

Some experts suggest that consumers cut back on products that contain wheat to save money. But the product is part of many staples of the American diet.

On March 12, the U.S. Wheat Associates, an industry group, released a statement explaining why it asserts that open markets are essential for U.S. wheat growers.

"Previous cycles have proven that global wheat production will assuredly expand in response to higher prices, and evidence of that is already being seen," the release states. "The International Grains Council recently forecast that the world is likely to produce a record 642 million metric tons of wheat in the coming year if there are no serious weather problems."

The United States is a major wheat-producing country, with output typically exceeded only by China, the European Union and, sometimes, India, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Almost half of the U.S. wheat crop is exported.

Corn prices also have been well above average for a number of months, an increase largely attributed to the country’s growing biofuels industry.

So what can consumers do to keep their grocery bills within their budgets?

Perhaps it is time to take up gardening. After all, the more food grown in the back yard, the less you’ll have to pay for at the supermarket checkout.