Why are groceries so expensive?

Like most people, you may have wondered why your grocery bills have shot up over the past few months. People across North America have seen their food expenses increase steadily and eat into other areas of their budgets. While rising grocery prices are a source of anxiety for many households, it’s possible to save money and lead a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle by growing your own food.

What is Causing Rising Grocery Prices?

While many factors contribute to the rising cost of groceries, most of them are related to inflation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that food prices will continue to increase by 3-4% throughout the rest of 2022. This is in addition to the almost 8% increase we’ve already seen since last year and is compounded by other inflated prices in energy and fuel resources.

Even worse, this is just an average number. The price inflation of individual items can range from 1% to almost 15%, depending on what area of the supermarket you’re shopping in. Meat, fish, eggs, and poultry have increased by around 13%, while fresh fruits have risen by roughly 10%. Vegetables and cereals have a lower inflation rate at about 4% and 7%, respectively.

While it’s not evident when this current inflation trend will start to slow down, it’s clear that individuals and families need to be thinking about ways to save money and lower their food bills.

What are the Alternatives?

There is an alternative to spending hundreds of dollars each month on inflated prices of fruits and vegetables. You can grow your own food.

Now, this is certainly not an easy or quick solution. Growing your own food takes a significant amount of time and effort. However, it’s a process that actually gets easier over time as you learn more about cultivation and your garden becomes more established.

Even better, one of the goals of growing a food forest is to replicate natural processes and create a thriving ecosystem that nourishes itself and remains productive without constant human involvement. Once your food forest is established, it will attract a wide range of beneficial insects, animals, and microorganisms that all contribute to a healthy, well-balanced environment.

Growing vegetables in raised beds and containers is a good start. However, at Kani Meye Food Forest, we encourage people to design a food forest that takes advantage of all eight growing layers so that you can grow a more expansive portfolio of fruits and vegetables that work together and lead to more abundant harvests.

Takeaway

If you’d like to learn more about growing your own food forest, we have several helpful articles on our blog, covering topics from food forest planting arrangements to types of edible weeds and wild plants.

You can also purchase a food forest landscape blueprint designed by the experts at Kani Meye Food Forest. We customize each blueprint to your unique environment and requirements, including your topography and the level of production you wish to have. If you believe in leading a more sustainable lifestyle and want to grow healthier food while saving money, reach out to our team. We’ll be happy to help you design your own food forest and boost your self-reliance.

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Top 10 reasons why you should start with a professional design.

Get it right the first time!

Buying and placing perennial plants on your property is a big investment of your time and money to begin with, and you often won’t know if you were successful until at least a year or more has passed. Our Designers thoroughly evaluate your property when considering what plants are selected, how they are placed, and how water and people move through the landscape for ongoing growth and abundance.
Plan For Success

Did you know the most common reason homesteads fail is going in without a plan? You wouldn’t build a house without a plan, would you? Having a clear plan will help you develop a budget, phase your implementation, and manage your time so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.
We Turn Problems into Solutions!

You don’t have a surplus of Grasshoppers; you have a deficiency of Chickens! You don’t have a drainage problem; you have a water retention opportunity. Permaculture designers are trained to turn limitations into opportunities, creatively using and responding to change and integrating multiple design elements to work together harmoniously.
Obtain a Superior Yield

There is a difference between a tree surviving and THRIVING. Our designs begin with restoring healthy soil as the foundation on which layers of plants are stacked that work together in close proximity, creating ultra-abundant ecosystems. This means we can pack more food into less space, and no yard is too small for us to generate a yield.
We Know Plants…and The Company They Like to Keep!

Not only will we help you select varieties of edible plants that will flourish in your climate, but we will select “companions” to create communities of plants that are stronger together than they would be alone. Pest & Weed deterrence, Nitrogen Fixation (improving soil fertility), Pollinator Attraction, Habitat, Mulch, and Compost Production are just some of the functions happening in these thoughtfully designed systems.
Use Your Resources Wisely!

Your Design is thoughtfully created to eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides; conserve water usage; and be low maintenance. They can also thoughtfully moderate energy usage by being conscious of plant placement in relation to the sun and heat sinks on the property.
Let Your Livestock Work for You

Without a Design, it is all too common for homesteaders to become slaves to their livestock, spending considerable time and money to sustain their animals and leaving their land extracted. This is all backwards; it is the livestock that should providing a yield and leaving the land regenerated! Our Homestead Designs ensure you have the right space, water, pasture, fodder, infrastructure, and strategies in place to seamlessly integrate livestock onto your property and into your lifestyle.
GROW Your Assets

Every fruit begins as a flower, and edible plants can be just as beautiful as ornamental ones! Professional designs carefully consider aesthetics to create landscapes that will boost your curb appeal and property value. Plants can be selected for the color of their flower and the time of year they bloom, water features placed thoughtfully, fences and arbors used as trellises for flowering vines, and captivating living-scenes surrounding
Support, mentoring ...

Our Design Process includes a minimum of 3 consultations to co-create, explain your design, answer questions, and educate you on its successful implementation…but the journey doesn’t stop there! Your designer can help coordinate the installation with our team or offer DIY support and we would love to help you continue your journey to be an example for your community to demonstrate living in freedom and abundance!
Designed for You

Don’t have a lot of time to spend in the garden? No problem. Do you love to live outside and want immersive spaces where you can reconnect to nature? Consider it done. Your design is created for your unique goals, lifestyle, and interests in mind so that it enhances your life. We can include juice & smoothie gardens, tea gardens, outdoor kitchens, livestock, children’s sensory gardens & play areas, medicinal gardens, flower (pollinator) gardens, potagers, apiaries, culinary gardens, and more within your design.