Food Prices Significantly Higher Now Compared to a Year Ago

Thursday, March 2nd, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

(By Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Food prices are significantly higher than they were a year ago.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, txperts say everyone from fine dining restaurants to shoppers on a tight budget are feeling the pinch. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service found that food prices in January were 10.1 percent higher than the same month in 2022.

By comparison, the general consumer price index, which measures economy-wide inflation, was 6.4 percent higher than January 2022. David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, said the increase in food prices is significant, especially when compared to pre-pandemic averages.

"Food prices generally increase around 2 percent year over year. So when we're talking about double-digit increases for 11, almost 12 months, these are significant increases," Ortega said. "We're all feeling this at the grocery store. Just about every food category has experienced price increases over the past year."

Eggs have seen some of the largest increases due to the impact of the highly-pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. As a category, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found egg prices are 70 percent higher than in 2022.

But Ortega said certain items are even higher, like a dozen Grade A large eggs which are more than double what they cost a year ago. He said flour is about 20 percent higher than in 2022, due in part to the war in Ukraine.

But Ortega points out that the actual cost of agricultural commodities that go into food items only makes up about 15 cents of every dollar spent on food. The rest comes from the transportation, processing and retail of these items.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.