Frugal Living: Is a scorching summer about to push food prices higher?

[00:00:02]Hello everybody and welcome back to another midweek money chat. Today I want to talk about something that's really been on my mind recently. We've been doing a lot of driving around over the last few weeks. We've had places that we've had to be, people we've needed to see, and obviously when you're driving through France, you're driving through farmland.

[00:00:25]And when you live somewhere where food is produced, you really notice the things that affect them. So whether you're driving through the south of France where we live, or the middle of France, or even if you're heading to the north of France to the French border, you're seeing the same thing. You're seeing farmers are watering their crops.

[00:00:44]You can see water being pumped and sprayed across fields. And these huge pumps and enormous sprayers are covering large areas of farmland.

[00:00:56]Field after field is being watered because the ground is so dry and the temperatures have been so high for such a long period of time. We've seen fields of maize being watered constantly, and we've seen other crops being watered, and even the vineyards being protected with drip feed pipes um running along the vines.

[00:01:18]Everything is being affected by the heat and the lack of water. And when you see what is happening, you start looking into which foods are going to be affected by this long hot dry summer and what that means for prices.

[00:01:32]Because water costs money and the pumps need electricity and equipment needs fuel and all of those have costs. And all of those affect the cost of producing food. And one of the things that really stands out is maize.

[00:01:47]There are thousands of acres of maize grown across France, and a lot of that maize is used for animal feed. And when those fields need constant watering, it matters. It costs more to cost cost more to produce that maze, which then costs more to feed animals.

[00:02:06]And where we live, where beef production is a big part of farming, you can see the effect of these dry conditions really clearly.

[00:02:15]Um the fields are dry and there isn't the same amount of grass. And you could see in the fields and the higher pieces of land, you can see the animals being fed with winter fodder.

[00:02:30]And and even though farmers plan for this all year and they grow grass to make hay and silage and haylage, they're having to use it now.

[00:02:41]And when the weather is extremely dry and hot for long periods of time, yet producing that food that they need for winter and using it now is going to have massive effects, isn't it? And when you see the price of meat or chicken or dairy in the supermarket, it is easy to forget everything that has happened before that food reaches the fridge in the shop. The weather has a massive impact. It affects what farmers can grow, how animals are fed, and the costs involved in producing the food that we buy.

[00:03:15]And hot dry summers are becoming increasingly normal, aren't they? And and this summer in particular has been extreme, hasn't it? We are seeing wildfires in places where people would not normally expect them, including in the north of Europe, where traditionally this is not really been a problem. And of course wildfires have always happened, but the number of places affected is a real concern. And fires have another impact that people don't always think about, and that is insurance. When areas become higher risk, insurance costs increase. That affects home insurance, but it also affects farmers, businesses, transports, and all of those companies anywhere involved in producing, storing, or moving food can be affected. When we moved from the north of France to the south of France, our own home insurance increased because there are higher risks. And those extra costs don't just disappear. They become part of running businesses and producing food. Now, let's look at some of the foods that can be affected. Potatoes are one of the things that I'm watching. Potatoes need water. Long periods of heat and dry weather can affect both the size potatoes and the amount being harvested.

[00:04:41]That affects fresh potatoes, but it also affects frozen potato products and processed foods. If potatoes are something that your household, like my household, uses regularly, it's obviously worth thinking about and stocking alternatives.

[00:05:00]Tinned potatoes are useful.

[00:05:03]I'll stock more. Dried potato products are useful. I will start stocking up on those.

[00:05:09]And there are plenty of meals where I will use rice or pasta instead, and consequently, stock up on those.

[00:05:20]Tomatoes are something else that I'm watching.

[00:05:24]Extreme heat affects tomato plants, and harvests are going to be reduced when temperatures are this high for such long periods of time.

[00:05:36]So, tinned tomatoes are something that my household use regularly. They obviously store really well. They're inexpensive at the moment, and they are the base of so many of our meals.

[00:05:52]And I use them regularly, so it makes sense to me at the moment to get extra into my store cupboards.

[00:06:02]Fruit is another area where we are going to see increases in prices.

[00:06:10]I can literally see the apples falling off the tree onto the grounds because it's hot and it's dry.

[00:06:18]And also pears, peaches, nectarines, and grapes, they're all affected by this hot dry weather.

[00:06:27]So, fruit is going to be smaller, yields are going to be lower, and that means prices are going to be higher. So, that makes me think about what I'm going to do about it. For me, this is about looking at what we already buy and making sure that I'm not caught out by these price increases.

[00:06:50]And it's not about me going out and buying loads of food that I'm never going to use, it's about looking at what my household already eats and just getting in a bit more of it.

[00:07:04]And when I see good prices, oh, when I'm talking about good prices, what I'm saying is the prices now before they increase because they will.

[00:07:15]So, here's an example. I use tinned tomatoes.

[00:07:20]I'm going to get extra in now. I don't often use tinned potatoes, but if I'm going to get them, I will I will get more. I will get in dried potatoes. And currently, I don't use instant dried mashed potatoes, but it is something that I will get in.

[00:07:39]So, what's my advice to you? It'd be to look at the food that you use regularly and think about alternatives that you could use if you, like us, can predict that those prices will increase. Because once prices go up, you're going to you're going to be stuck with that higher price, and that's why I think it's a sensible approach.

[00:08:01]That what I think I'm taking the sensible approach to make sure that those foods that we eat that I am stocking up on them if I can. Because I am expecting them to go out. Not I don't think they're going to run out. I don't think there's going to be any great shortages, but there that pressure on food production means that there's going to be extra costs in the system.

[00:08:25]We all know that weather affects farming, it affects businesses, it affects insurance, and eventually it's going to affect the prices that I see when I go shopping.

[00:08:36]Now, I'd love to hear from you. What are you seeing locally?

[00:08:41]Uh are you seeing fires locally? Are you seeing farmers having to increase the amount of water on their crops? Are you seeing insurance costs having to go up?

[00:08:52]We always read your comments. We always love to hear from you. We're always interested in your perspective from your part of the world. Thanks for watching.

[00:08:59]We'll see you on the next video.

[00:09:01]Bye-bye.

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