Prices are going up, everywhere.  If you’ve been to a gas station or a grocery store in the last few years, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  However, the guys at the federal budget office apparently don’t go to these places because they say inflation has been kept moderate at about a 2% rate.

Of course, when you manipulate the numbers like they do, its easy to see how they come to such an out of touch conclusion.

The government argues that food prices only rise at about 4% a year, but this is only true if the people substitute fresher, healthier, more expensive foods with cheaper ones.  According to the CPI, food is only slightly more expensive but what you’re eating isn’t as good as it used to be.  Here are some examples comparing the 1970s to now:

• Fruit:  In the 1970s, the average person ate about 22 pounds of fresh fruit in a year.  Since the price of fruit is skyrocketing, you only get 4 pounds a year today – and you pay way more for way less.
• Beef:  You can eat the same amount of beef today that you did in the 1970s, but it will cost a bit more.  Of course, the standard for beef in the 1970s was lean steak and today its high-fat ground beef patties.
• Fresh vegetables:  Fresh vegetables have risen 20% in the last two years.  So CPI assumes that you will eat less vegetables.  What’s it replaced with?   Sodas, cookies, cakes, and candies actually dropped in price, so they expect we’ll have more of that.

Now, for someone eating gluten-free on a budget, this is quite the conundrum!  Processed foods are essentially off-limits and fresh foods are becoming more expensive by the day.

This brings me to the title of my post, “Saved by the Potato”

• They’re cheap
• They’re naturally gluten-free
• They’re healthy
• There are literally hundreds of ways to cook them, season them, and serve them
• The high plant-starch seems a good replacement for wheat and helps promote a balanced diet

Don’t get me wrong, potato prices are going up too.  Unfortunately though, its only candy and baked goods that are dropping in price, and that won’t help you if you’re going gluten-free.