Goodhue FFA Delivers Lesson in Food Prices

The line of people waiting to have a meal prepared by Goodhue High School FFA members tonight stretched out the front door of the Goodhue Lions Community Center.

When I left just after 7:00 p.m. nearly 300 people had already been served with the event scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m.  Serving began at 6:00 p.m.

They had to make a second run for hamburger because the crowd was larger than expected according to some of the FFA members.

The hope is to make this a yearly event.

The idea was to have a dinner where people were charged what farmer's are receiving for their commodities to emphasize the low prices they are receiving.

It was awesome to see the many families in attendance.  Young couples with five and six children in addition to retired farmers and business people like Duane Jonas of Goodhue.

They came from all over too.  I saw people from Goodhue, Cannon Falls, Bellechester, Zumbrota, Wanamingo, and Kenyon.

The charge for the meal which included a hamburger with your choice of cheese, tomato, pickles, and lettuce.  Potato Salad, pasta salad, various bars for dessert, chips and milk was $1.50.

The FFA member who calculated the farmer's share said she checked the USDA website to see what the average price Minnesota farmers were receiving for their commodities to make the computations.

There were signs on the wall informing those in attendance for example that average price for a gallon of whole milk was $4.39, farmer's share $1.96.  Pound of ground beef averaged $5.63, farmer's share $1.58.  5 pound bag of flour retail price was $6.89, farmer's share $0.49, Tomatoes were listed as $2.99 a pound, farmer's share $0.82.

Lettuce retail price averaged $2.49 a pound, farmer's share $0.61.

I asked people sitting near me what the actual cost per meal would be, and asked a couple of the Goodhue FFA members.  Guesses ranged from eight dollars to 12 dollars.

The actual cost was not computed for the event by the Goodhue FFA.  Just the farmer share by commodity prices.

I checked the USDA website and found the average price of milk in Minnesota according to a USDA report issued on October 31, 2024 was $27 dollars per CWT (hundredweight, which is approximately 11.56 gallons of milk).

Using the Goodhue FFA chart showing the farmer's share of $1.96 per gallon is not what the farmer actually pockets.

They have to pay shipping costs, feed, fuel, power bills, vet bills. Factoring all this the farmer average net is approximately 30 cents a gallon.

Thanks to the Goodhue FFA chapter for a lesson all consumers need to learn.