Consumerism Foods 2

STANDARD 3 Apply budgeting and consumerism skills to manage food costs. Objective 1: Students will practice consumerism and budgeting skills related to food. a. Establish and apply a budget as it relates to food. b. Apply shopping strategies • Create a categorized shopping list • Take calculator • Don’t shop when hungry or tired • Shop alone c. Identify shopping guidelines and advertising strategies • Loss leaders • Coupons/rebates • Impulse buys • Layout of store/shelf placement • Package dating • Calculate unit pricing/cost per serving • Interpret package information d. Discuss name brands versus store brands e. Compare and contrast the use of convenience foods in relation to nutrition, use of time and money. Objective 2: Read and interpret food labels as it applies to nutritional value. a. Identify the components of a food label • Nutrition facts • Ingredients are listed from the largest to the smallest amount by weight • % Daily Value • Serving size b. Food label terms • Low in • Reduced, less, light • Good source of • Organic and natural • High source of • 100% Juice vs. drink, punch, juice cocktail, fruit flavored drink etc.

Unit Pricing: Usually listed in price per ounce, quart, pound or other unit to show the best value. Unit price is figured by the total price divided by the number of units. Unit pricing is effective for comparing brands. **the largest package is not always the best bargain.**

Cost per serving: This cost is figured by taking the total price and dividing it by the number of servings or units in the package. For examples: A six pack of mountain dew = $4.00 There are 6 serving in this pack $4.00/6 = $.66 Each can is $.66 each $.66 is the unit price

Name Brand vs. National Brand Store brands are foods usually without name/national brands. Store brands are usually less expensive and often the same quality. Most are made by a national company. Remember – check unit pricings to make sure it is a better deal. Buy for the intended use – store brands that have lower quality and appearance can work in recipes that are not depending on the appearance.

Advertising Strategies: Used by grocery stores to increase: Impulse buying: Items bought that were not planned for. Multiple item buying: Special pricing for buying a specific quantity of items. Specials: advertised items to get you into the store. Celebrity endorsements: A celebrity is paid to advertise a product like - Wheaties, Gatorade, etc. Brand Recognition: When the product is called by the name brand, like Clorox when talking about bleach – Clorox is a brand. Positive Images: Advertising caters to basic needs – security, self esteem, and acceptance.

Coupons: These are usually offered on national brands. Use coupons when the final cost is less than other comparable brands or products. Consumers often purchase items they don’t need or use because of the “on sale” idea coupons foster. Samples: are used to get the consumer try a new product without having to buy a large quantity of the product.

Loss Leaders: These are products that a grocery store will mark down, usually less than the original cost of the product, to get consumers to come into the store. (While in the store, most consumers will usually buy additional products, making up the money the grocer spent lost on the loss leader.)

Rebates These are a means of redeeming money from the product after it has been purchased. Often the original receipt and proof of purchase is required. These are hard to track and require specific instructions to be followed, as well as postage and additional time.

Basic Needs Advertising can be used to get your attention – make you think you need an item to be happy, successful, get people to like you better.

Claims Made in Advertising Will make you look younger Will stop the aging process – get rid of wrinkles Will get rid of acne fast Will help you lose weight fast

Convenience Foods: These foods are bought prepared or almost prepared and come in many forms. The more the food is processed or prepared, the more it costs. These are time savers and can be worth the extra cost. When working on a budget, much can be saved by doing the preparation yourself. Cost more because someone has already done the preparation.

Cost more Most convenience foods contain more preservatives. These foods are usually higher in fat an sodium content. The cost of packaging is also added into the total cost of the convenience food. Can be a big time saver as preparation is already done.

Eating out: More and more meals are eaten outside of the home or prepared and brought into the home. There are great varieties of foods now available. Fast food meals are usually higher in fat and salt than home- prepared meals. Portion sizes may be larger which often encourages overeating. Can be expensive to eat out all the time. 2

Shopping Guidelines: 1. Shop alone 2. Avoid shopping when hungry or tired 3. Limit shopping trips – more trips the more money you will spend. 4. Purchase what you can use and store.

5. Quantity buying can benefit if the item is used frequently 6. Take advantage of sales of frequently used items; case lot sales 7. Buy foods in season for best price 8. Using a calculator while shopping can help you keep track of money spent while shopping (for no surprises).

Spending Record/Budget: One tool to improve food budgeting is to keep a spending record. This is helpful when determining how to reduce the amount of money spent on food. Be sure to include money spent on food prepared in the home as well as food prepared outside of the home.

On a limited budget, reducing the amount of food eaten out can save a lot of money.