European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 13, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                January 1978 the stars and stripes Page 19 consumer watch by Mary Neh Back in the it again took More Green this past year to fill up those grocery sacks and there Are those who predict customers can expect this trend will continue to be reflected in overseas commissaries in 1978 something like a six percent increase in that grocery All of this after the dramatic plunge of the Dollar during the first week of january can Only mean it May be a must to stick to those unpleasant new years resold to Cut Down wherever but there is some Good news Coffee prices Are head ing downward and Cocoa should at least stay about the according to an associated press Market Basket Survey in december in the Only one City new York reported an increase in the Price of a Pound of the Cost to Consumers has levelled off or dropped since the wholesale Price of a Pound of roasted Coffee peaked in june at and began to said George president of the National Coffee on Coffee sold for a Pound in one per cent higher than the Price tag a year became of the length of time it takes to get to overseas Coffee in the military commissaries was slower in going up in Price about three behind the hikes going on in the and be Price drops will be a bit behind those but As the commissaries sell at wholesale eventually Pound for Pound it will be Selling below those it at one Susareu commissary just visited the Best buy was the unlabelled military Issue Coffee at two pounds for or a there was also a Ven Dors special on Hills two pounds were marked Down from to adding up to a the same As asked for maxwells Folger three Pound cans at figure out to a Pound and the Chase three pounds for or a these prices Are a bit of from what was being charged Back in 1975 when it was possible to buy a three Pound can of Chase Sanborn for about a or even in May of 1977 when the two Pound can had zoomed up to about a As to not Only has the Price of Cocoa for future delivery dropped 10 cents a but All Trade signs Point to still lower prices in the coming according to ii Maidenberg of the new York be notes that Cocoa Trade experts forecast that the March 1978 for sex which closed at a Pound in new decline to by next the reason is that the Cocoa Trade has traditionally been a delicate one in terms of Supply and for the world has produced an average of Only million metric tons a and a Rise or decline of or tons is enough to cause exaggerated Price David the Cocoa specialist at cont Icom modify services the brokerage Arm of the Continental Grain observed judging from the initial reports of the african Cocoa a surplus of More than tons could be expected this the shortfalls in the previous two reports the Neil York were attributed to unusually dry weather in Africa and Brazil As Well As economic prob lems in Ghana and where Many banners concentrated on their ground food crops at the expense of harvesting the Cocoa pods that grow on one reason was the increased demand for food in Many african countries because of the As Well As Farmers dissatisfaction with the prices they were receiving for Cocoa which Are the same size As Coffee the comparison with Coffee is Apt because both commodities began soaring in Price in mid july 1975 and began to decline in recent because most of the planets 4 billion people never touch Cocoa consumption patterns in the wealthy nations determine and the Sharp Rise in Cocoa prices combined with the current recession in North America and Western Europe resulted in a Cut Back in in the United the next lest of prices is expected to come at the Peak season for chocolate con f although Cocoa manufacturer Are expected to pus on their higher production which could offset much of the decline in Cocoa bean Trade experts believe Consumers May expect no fur ther Sharp rises in retail costs this As it a Pound of Hershey Cocoa now Sells for in Usa eur commissaries compared to just in Cocoa products in the cafes Woodlands have been even More eight ounces of Nestle for costs 69 cents there compared to 16 ounces for 86 cents in the Nestle instant Sells for 10 cents for a on ounce envelope in the Woodlands com pared to 63 cents for a package of 10 on ounce envelopes in the about 6 cents an Back to that Marke Basket Survey by the associated press results showed the prices of 14 commonly Pur chased food and nonfood items Rose an average of percent in december bringing the years average in crease to the average Overall increase a year earlier was the figures arc based on an a Survey that began March the news service Drew up a list of commonly purchased grocery items and checks the Price at one supermarket in each of 13 cities every be tween and the Start the Market Basket Bill went up at the checklist stores in All 13 when Coffee which soared in Price after the crop killing freeze in Brazil in 1975 was removed from the the Bills in All stores still showed the years average without Coffee was percent which comes close to a forecast by the department of agriculture us a at the beginning of Roy Deputy director of the european held office of the troop support Agency la expects that this upward trend in supermarket prices will eventually be reflected in the commissary he guesses prices will go up by about that six percent in increases in prices of Staples such As eggs and Frozen Orange caused the leap in december Gro Cery prices in the according to the sugar prices Are reflecting government Price supports there is some Good news Coffee prices Are heading downward and Cocoa should at least stay about the instituted for processors Early in a spokes Man for the Usua the Consumers Cost for sugar increased in december in 10 checklist held steady in two and dropped in Only the average Price for a 5pound bag of granulated sugar at the beginning of january was com pared with a month according to the sugar has been Selling for for a five Pound bag in the Usa eur As to Orange the Rise in Price was blamed on in creased demand and lower Supply because of a freeze last january in the wholesale Price of one dozen 6ounce cans of concentrate currently a record was reflected in juice Price Rise in eight checklist on the average retail Price for a single 6ounce can was just Over 48 cents up about cents from a month earlier and some 15 cents higher than a year a six ounce can of Frozen Orange juice concentrate could be Pur chased for 26 cents in the Usa eur modern living living in a loft by Lee Mitgang associated press they live in shacks in abandoned storefronts in an old railway express office in a warehouse in san the Shell of a supermarket in they Are claiming what May be americas last housing Frontier loft buildings no one else has the desire or ingenuity to turn into what stands betwee these pioneers and their Homes Are and a Maze of City zoning Laws and building these wilderness areas Are in the hearts of a dozen or More american cities abandoned factory buildings and even Chicken coops that Only the artistic Eye and imagination could picture As a place to work and this so called loft movement had its spiritual Start in Soho the area of Street in lower Manhattan in the mid603 when perhaps artists turned Century old abandoned factories into spacious dwellings and saved that neighbourhood from the usual Fate of the wrecking Ball and the High Rise artists now Are creating loft Homes in Many other and the movement is described in a recent pioneering in the Urban by Jim there Are converted loft spaces from to to Seattle to lot Many Are and most seem isolated from the standpoint of their solitary just As the new York pioneers before u70 thought they were Stratton the experiences described in the authors interviews with loft dwellers in 23 cities Range from heroic struggles to bitter most says is that when artists finally win the right from officials and real estate interests to improve dilapidated buildings and save they ultimately May lose their new Homes to High prices created by outside the Haven that Soho artist pioneers created out of the lower Manhattan tried mess Drew interest from the Middle the the vanity lofts that appealed to the wealthy were boutiques and Art Galle Ries and restaurants were and some pioneers Are being driven out by soaring in the Best the Host City will ignore the inevitable list of code and zoning violations when these Urban pioneers convert a building never meant to be lived City zone of says we Caal live but they an so Happy about artists moving in that they leave us says Richard an artist whom Strat ton found living in an abandoned railway express office in downtown zoning Laws generally Are ignored in where Beverly Rosen lives and paints in an 85yearold Raccoon skinning in Urban pioneers seeking alternative As Stratton Calls Nave had Little to complain about in Sev eral other cities where building renovation is including los Milwaukee and but in Kansas City it was a different says Strat artists for some time had been moving into improving the cites skid called the River not far from the strip joint and Gangland then the City decided to build its convention Center in the heart of the Sleazy the strippers and muggers had to they chose the emerging artist where gang War bombs blew up three buildings and scared Many artists Strat ton More the problems the loft Pioneer encounters Are inside the loft problems that can defy the master electrician or much less the Stratton int the mayhem the Urban Pioneer finds in most loft buildings is As difficult to Clear As the wilderness tackled 200 years ago by less Urban minded the ancient the Rusty Metal plates on one the dangerous old electrical lines which Buzz and sparkle on the All of this is useful to someone that someone is probably my the loft for the few after Reading stratus still feel irresistibly Hammer and eviction notice in to the nearest rundown City the author offers some tips to keep in mind the left hand of a City government does not know what the right hand is nor does it know what the left hand is the bureaucrat who knows least is the bureaucrat most anxious to prove when a Toft is things will take about twice As Long and Cost about twice As much As if something the Way the code says it should redefine it so that it will in choosing a loft discretion is the better part of anything which is not nailed Down is anything i can pry Loose is not nailed