The price of food’s been going up, up, up. I watched my normally cheap veggie-protein, quinoa, double in cost overnight. Hey, that’s one of my staples! It’s already rough enough when you insist on shopping at the organic grocery, but even bargain shoppers are feeling the pinch. Don’t believe it’s bad? This just in: the number of food-stamp users has hit 31.6 million people – that’s 1 in 10 Americans.

Take a moment and think about that. That means 1 in 10 Americans now have income levels far enough below the poverty line to qualify for food stamps. Ouch. I guess it’s just one more inspiration to push people to try and grow their own food. It’s not going to be a case of Victory Gardens like in WWII or urban gardening chic – we’ll be doing it out of necessity if this keeps up. Personal sustainability is going to get, well, personal!

We think of food as being a third world problem. But it may in fact be a global problem. How are you coping with high food prices? Have your shopping habits changed?

Images: CNN, Tainted Balance