Supply Excellence — Inflation and Supply Risk Reach the Thanksgiving Table

Inflation and Supply Risk Reach the Thanksgiving Table

November 23rd, 2006 · by Tim Minahan · No Comments · LCCS and trade, enviro/social sustainability, supply risk

Okay, so the title may be hyperbole. But the latest posts from former Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine founder turned champion for U.S. farmers Julie Murphree report a 3.5% increase in the price of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. She also questions how regulatory policies are straining the U.S. food supply and security due to greater dependence on (and risks of) offshore sources. (I guess you can take the girl out of the supply chain, but can’t take the supply chain out of the girl.)

Julie cites the latest report from the American Farm Bureau Federation that finds that the average price for a Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 10 (including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings) has climbed to $38.10, a $1.32 increase from last year’s average. At $0.98 per pound, turkey was the big ticket item of the meal, up $0.06 per pound from last year. Prices for stuffing and green peas were also up. These increases were offset somewhat by lower prices for milk. (No word on the average price of a nice bottle of Pinot Noir to wash it all down.)

As for food security, Julie argues that tighter regulatory policies for more humane treatment of livestock is driving a rampant increase in imports of foods from other countries like Brazil where policies are lax. In fact, half of all food and foodstuffs are now imported into the United States.

“Food has been plentiful and inexpensive in our country, and since we take it for granted, and while we debate the esoteric and “higher” values of western civilization, we are quietly exporting our food production,” writes Julie. “We have certain romantic values of farming that prevent us from accepting that food production should be entitled to the same economies of scale as any other business. Our costs and our regulatory structure are all conspiring to have our food production and our food security exported to other countries.”

In full disclosure, Julie recently took over PR for the Arizona Farm Bureau, so her comments on food imports should be taken with a grain of salt (pun intended). But she raises a question worthy of debate. The recent oil crisis highlighted the dangers of U.S. reliance on foreign oil. It’s fair to ask, will our food supply be the next example of the risks of supply dependency?

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