June 2, 2008 6:01AM
Fried Over Prices
By Alexis Glick
Summer is here! What a beautiful weekend. This weekend, my husband, boys and I went upstate to visit my mom. She has a house in Rhinebeck, New York. It’s a little town on the Hudson River. We’ve been going there for years. Still feels like a throw back. My grandparents used to own a place in Chichester, New York, just north of Woodstock. As a kid we (my thirteen cousins) spent every summer out there. When I was about 15, my mom bought a place in Rhinebeck. If you’ve never been, you should check it out. It is a town full of old Victorian homes, many of which date back to the mid 1860’s. It’s where homes from the Rockefellers and other famous families set up shop on the banks of the Hudson River. Quite beautiful to say the least!
I hadn’t been up there in about a year and my mom was thrilled. We called a last-minute audible and surprised her. On Saturday, it rained a bit and we stopped into Foster’s, a local pub/restaurant to grab burgers and chicken fingers. We’ve been going for years. It has that Mr. Ed kind of feel when you first walk in. A real oldie, but goodie!
When we sat down to order food, we thought we’d order the usual. Fries and burgers and fries and chicken fingers, etc. Only this time we were met with a “french fries don’t come with the food, only chips or cole slaw.” We didn’t even have to ask why, the look of shock on our face was clear. Foster’s has great fries and you wouldn’t order a burger or chicken without the fries. Before we could say anything the waitress said you can order them but they come on the side now as a separate dish. Why? The cost of fuel. French fries are cooked in OIL!!!!!! Can you believe it? We were shocked! Just one more example of how inflation is rearing its head.
Comment by Suzanne Stevens
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
I live in Rhinebeck and that’s not the first time lately I’ve heard how oil prices are affecting food prices. There’s also a great Farmer’s Market in Rhinebeck on Sundays and now Thursdays. The guy who sells bread expressed the same sentiment when asked why his prices had gone up. The cost of flour had doubled because of fuel costs. I’m sure the connections are unlimited when impacting prices of goods sold.
Comment by Justin
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 am
sounds like a neat place. there really is nothing better than small towns with historical roots dating back to a simpler time. My grandmother has a place on the banks of the Pedernales river between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg was settled in the 1840’s by German farmers. The town itself has retained it’s rustic German heritage. You can see it in the architecture of the churches (predominately Lutheran) and the homes made from limestone and other rocks common in the Texas hill country. In recent years it has become quite a tourist destination due to it’s proximity to sprawling Austin, Texas, the booming hill country wine industry, and the fact that it’s so close to Luckenbach (Willy and Waylon, why did you have to put our jewel on the map?) as well as the LBJ state park. It’s unfortunate seeing the whole hill country in general becoming so commercialized as the people with money scramble out of Austin to secure their single acre estates with a 3000 sq. ft home and think they are living the hill country lifestyle. It seems like every person in the state of Texas is hell bent on moving out to the hill country. I’m just glad there are still a few good ole boys that’ll never part with their land no matter how much they are offered, because in the end, land is the only thing of real value.
As far as inflation goes, I am greatly concerned. We are just now feeling the effects of rate cuts that came after the dot com bubble. The money that sent real estate souring is now in commodities, all the while Bernanke is flooding the market with more money to bail out the irresponsible banks/borrowers. I suspect that we still have a way to go as far as the credit cruch goes and if another bank were to get into trouble, we are going to see even more money enter the market. This combined to the deficit spenders in Congress leads to a hyper inflationary disaster in the future. With rates staying at a low 2% and the likelyhood that they’ll being staying there until November, all of that easy money is going to come back to haunt us. I don’t know if we’ll go over the edge now with commodities (which I believe are relatively cheap considering how much money is floating around out there), or whatever bubble comes next, but someday we will have to pay for all of this easy money. When that time comes, it’s going to make the 1970’s look like a cake walk (which I wasn’t around for since I’m only 19). I don’t even want to think what effects a hurricane in the gulf will have on oil prices. We could very well see major stagflation if that occurs.
Comment by Greg
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
The fries were a side because of oil? Unless they are fried in crude, I think there was another reason. And I believe that reason is because they can make a little extra profit since most people are going to want fries with their burger.
Comment by stephenlee
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Same here on the west coast. After golf, lunch usually includes fries, but this time they were extra. Rather see prices rise than to be nickeled and dimed to death!
Comment by MKelley
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Wait, french fries are cooked in oil, but NOT the skyrocketing cost kind that runs transportation!!!! So what they are cooked in is not the reason they are now offered on the side. The fact that the cost to transport all food has risen and that these are obviously a hot-selling item that can be sold a la carte at a premium are the reasons why they are offered on the side.
Either that or, if the waitress is correct, you should never eat at that restaurant again and call the Board of Health immediately.
Comment by Derek
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
ummm…yeah.. but it’s frying oil, not petroleum oil
Comment by chuck
Jun 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
Alexis makes me want to visit upper state New York.
When I was in high school I spent my summers with my grand dad in Bluffton,Ga near the Georgia/Alabama state line. I had an oppertunity to return there since my days in high school. Near Bluffton is Fort Gains which isn’t far from Dothan,Alabama. Anyway Fort Gaines has this picturesque cinematic look. I saw the old house where I used to stay my summers and see the crop dusters. I didn’t the stays in the Southern Georgia countryside. Since Bluffuton,I’v visited Jeckyll Island,Georigia which is so beautiful. And I visited Myrtle Beach South Carolina. But New England fall with the varied color leaves I’ve always wanted to photograph. But last summer when I was on my way to Barcelona,Spain,I got closer to my own goal of visiting New York City. When I saw on the map that Philly wasn’t to far I was amazed. But it made my day.
But if you travel through Southeast Georgia into Alabama,be sure to drive through Bluffton and For Gaines it’s worth the trip. That part of Georgia is scenic and beautiful and you’re not far from the Florida Panhandle.
As for me I’ll be returning to Florida Panhandle in a few weeks. Around Pensacola,Florida in fact. I went through Pensacola over two yeas ago. Looking forward to see how the area has rebuilt itself since the hurricanes.