U.S. Food Prices Pork Out
US - If your diet consists entirely of bacon, you probably haven’t noticed that food prices in the United States are rising. Practically everything else is going up, and the respite for lovers of pork bellies is temporary.Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation, an organization of farmers and ranchers, announced the results of its quarterly Marketbasket Survey, and the outlook for producers and consumers is not great.
Every quarter since 1989, the federation as conducted an informal survey to determine the price of a basket of 16 basic food items an average American would purchase at a local grocery store. A 20-ounce loaf of white bread, a 32-ounce bottle of vegetable oil, a gallon of whole milk and one pound of pork chops are among the items surveyed.
Thursday’s report for the first quarter of 2008 saw an increase of $3.42, or 8.2%, to $45.03, from the previous quarter. The same standard bag of groceries was 8.9% more expensive than it was in the year-earlier quarter.
“Overall changes in retail food prices highlight that the United States food market is more greatly tied to the global situation and global markets than ever before,” said Jim Sartwelle, a federation economist.