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Grocery prices spark stress for nearly half of Americans: Poll<\/p>\n
Grocery prices are adding stress for many Americans. Nearly half say rising food costs are making everyday shopping a financial burden.<\/p>\n
Straight Arrow News<\/p>\n
Grocery prices<\/a> are on the rise \u2013 in part due to inflation and tariffs <\/a>\u2013 and relief does not appear to be coming anytime soon.<\/p>\n Food prices at grocery stores rose by 0.6% from July to August, the fastest monthly rate change for groceries since October of 2022, according to the latest Consumer Price Index <\/a>from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n Groceries are also 29% higher since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CPI statistics.<\/p>\n What is causing food prices to rise?<\/p>\n There are several reasons food prices have increased, said David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University.<\/p>\n It started with supply-chain disruptions from COVID-19, Ortega said, and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused a rise in commodity <\/a>and energy prices. Then the bird flu effects on the U.S. egg supply caused prices to skyrocket. They have come down 70% since the March high<\/a>, but Ortega said the fall is traditionally the time of year when migratory bird activity increases and that can impact commercial operations with bird flu.<\/p>\n “We’re not out of the woods yet with egg prices,” Ortega told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n Climate change has also affected food prices globally, said Ortega. A U.S. drought in 2022 caused many producers to sell their cattle, including their heifers, reducing the ability to produce more cows, explained Ortega. The supply was smaller while demand for U.S. beef remained high<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n The latest CPI price of beef showed a 2.7% increase from July to August.<\/p>\n \u201cBeef is driving the spike in grocery prices right now,” Michael Swanson, Chief Agricultural Economist at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute told USA TODAY. “It\u2019s a big-ticket item for a lot of households, so when it jumps, it pulls the whole index up with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Coffee prices have also been increasing due to drought conditions in Brazil. The country provides about 30% of the U.S. coffee supply, and now has been subject to a 50% tariff, said Ortega.<\/p>\n While the U.S. is a major producer of beef, there is also a large imported market for what’s called “lean trimmings” of beef from countries like Brazil and Australia, Ortega said.<\/p>\n “We are starting to see the impacts of tariffs show up,” Ortega said of the increased grocery costs.<\/p>\n And prices could also rise because of continued “crackdowns in immigration policies” and on undocumented farm workers <\/a>as the cost of labor increases, said Ortega.<\/p>\n Shoppers are stressed about grocery prices<\/p>\n The rising cost of groceries has rattled a vast majority of U.S. adults, according to a poll <\/a>released in August by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. More than half of respondents surveyed in July, or 53%, said the cost of groceries was a “major source” of stress.<\/p>\n More food prices could go up<\/p>\n Other foods may also get more expensive, said Ortega. The U.S. relies heavily on tomato imports from Mexico and prices have started to jump in the wake of the end of a U.S.-Mexico trade agreement in Jul<\/a>y<\/a> <\/strong>and the imposition of tariffs, he said.<\/p>\n “U.S. producers may not be able to scale up quickly enough to fill the gap,” Swanson said.<\/p>\n Ortega says “we’re not going to feel the full brunt of” tariffs “on the fresh tomato prices and the market until later this fall and just into the winter.”<\/p>\n There is a bit of a bright spot, said Swanson. \u201cFor the first time in months, fruits and vegetables flipped from negative to positive year-over-year inflation, up 1.9%. That\u2019s a meaningful shift in a category where consumers spend heavily,” he said.<\/p>\n