Last night my husband and I stopped by the grocery store to pick up diapers and orange juice. While we were there, Sean thought we should stockpile some grains and a few other items in the basement in light of rising food prices and recent news that Costco and Sams Club were restricting purchases of rice and other grains. "Weird stuff is happening.", he warned.

The optimist that I am, I laughed and chalked up the hoarding to paranoid senior citizens and immigrants. Remember all the Y2K paranoia that amounted to nothing? We left the store with diapers, OJ, and three other impulse items.

This morning, in the Wall Street Journal, there's an article titled: "Load up the Pantry". To my chagrin, it makes a good case for Sean's advice at the grocery store. Just as $2.00 a gallon at the pump is a "rosy memory of a bygone age", recent higher food prices are here to stay and likely to go even higher.

Why? The emergence of a Chinese and Indian middle class demanding more and better food; this demand will only increase. In addition, our ethanol policy (something our politicians need to seriously deal with!) is making corn more expensive, thus increasing the price of cereals and other corn and packaged products. Now add to that rising fuel and transportation costs.

So, the article argues, if you have extra storage space, why not load up? Plus, buying in bulk has the added benefit of saving you money anyway.

What is your family doing to deal with rising food prices?