I occasionally questioned my judgment in raising a medium sized, 2000 square feet vegetable garden when I was covered in dirt and sweat in 90+ degree summer heat, but after seeing charts like these, all that work (or exercise) now seems like a pretty good idea.

Granted, I’m not Juan Valdez raising my own coffee or buying a farm in Florida to raise my own oranges, but with food inflation being what it is (even cost conscious behemoth WalMart are raising food prices 6% in 2010), no way is a frugality minded person like myself going to sit idly by and pay $5 per pound for tomatoes or $2.50 per pound for sweet potatoes when I can plant a few seeds and let Mother Nature do her thing.

Almost makes you hope for a sector specific deflationary economy, or at the very least, a little bit of disinflation to curb the trend. Doesn’t it?

Image credit: Economist Breakfast Index