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Yesterday, I was on San Diego 6 talking about the impact of the drought on our wallets.  You only have to pick up any myriad of packaged goods products to see how pervasive corn and soy is in our daily lives.  They’re in EVERYTHING…energy drinks, oil, margarine, cereal, processed foods and soda.  Corn, especially, is the primary feed for cattle, pork and poultry – even farm-raised fish.  So when the worst drought we’ve seen in over 25 years – some say 50 – drives the price of this commodity by 50%, you know someone’s got to pay for it.  Reportedly, eighty-eight percent of  U.S. farmland where corn is grown is now drought-stricken.  The by-products of cattle feed going up will render butter, milk and other cow-based dairy products higher, too.

Here are items we could feel the price difference within the next two months:

Beef

Chicken

Pork

Farm-raised Fish

Eggs

Butter

Margarine

Milk

Yogurt

Items that could take up to a year to move prices up: (about 40% of packaged goods products)

Soda and beverages using high fructose corn syrup

Processed foods using high fructose corn syrup, corn oil or corn flour, like cookies, crackers and snack bars

Cereal

Tofu

Soy oil

Soy-based meat alternative products

Corn chips

Corn tortillas

Corn flour

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The silver lining is this: there are lots of alternatives to these foods that are clean, nutritious and delicious.

- The price of fruit and veggies should not be affected.  HURRAY!!  Continue to make the rainbow of produce a source of pure, blissful nutrition at every meal

- Consider a meatless day of the week where you explore alternatives that are plant based, like beans.  We have some delicious tips on our Pinterest page with recipes.

- Choose wild caught seafood vs. farm raised.  Those choices are higher in healthy Omega 3′s anyway, and they taste SOOO much better.

- Stock up in the bulk aisle at your favorite natural foods store.  Rice, beans, lentils, nuts and even corn-free cereal are available ‘au natural’ and are good sources of protein and complex carbohydrates.

- Make water your haven.  Sparkling water flavored with slices of lemon, orange, lime or cucumber make it a refreshing alternative to sugary drinks.

- Become a label king/queen.  Avoid products with high fructose corn syrup – drought or not.

- If you are a carnivore, you don’t have to go without – just dial it back.