Higher food prices will hit consumers hard
After rising moderately, costs are projected to jump due to global demand and higher producer expenses
Hope you're willing to pay a little -- and in some cases a lot -- more.
Just as the holiday season hits, prices are rising -- especially on those items you'll need to cook for all those gatherings and the staples you always keep stocked in the kitchen.
Think meats, milk, eggs, cheese and sugar.
"We see the price increases, and we have to pass them on to customers," said Chris Archer, owner of Archer's Meat Packing in Greenwood. "There's an increase in prices on beef and hogs and especially goats and lamb."
But it's not just meats. Overall, food prices are climbing, and economists expect them to rise even faster next year.
The increase is nothing astronomical when you look at food prices as a whole. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is predicting that food prices this year will rise 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent, the lowest annual rate of inflation since 1992. Next year, the forecast is for an increase of 2 percent to 3 percent.
"That's a reasonable amount of increase, especially considering prices last year were a bargain," said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
But it's not as reasonable when you look at some individual items or categories, such as meats and dairy, where the jump is significant. Pork, for example, is up 13 percent from a year ago; butter is up 25 percent; and milk has risen 6 percent, according to the USDA.
To consumers, many of whom are still struggling financially, the increase can seem unbearable.
"I've already decided I'm not cooking it all this Christmas. The kids are gonna have to pitch in," said Elaine Scruggs, who was shopping in the baking aisle at Walmart on Pendleton Pike on Monday. "I'm not lazy. I'm just cheap."
Scruggs gasped when she saw a 5-pound bag of Domino Sugar was $4.24. Sugar prices have risen more than 3 percent in the past year.
This Article Originally appeared at IndyStar.com on Nov. 30
No comments:
Post a Comment