WASHINGTON – Within the last year grocery store items have risen tremendously.
Common items we buy at the store like milk, cheese and meats have had a spike in their prices since November 2020.
Many times when we go to the grocery story we probably don’t think about how much every single item is until the total comes up, or at least some of us thought like that before the pandemic.
Food producers have struggled with shortages in labor, transportation and weather, all of which cause prices to rise.
Inflation across the country with the average prices for grocery items have risen, particularly this year across the country 6.4% and in the Seattle Metropolitan area it rose 7.4%.
“You can analyze this as being related to some of the issues associated to the pandemic” said Steven Reed, Economist for the Consumer Price Index Program at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. “Disruptions to supplies combined with some increase in demand. I know in food in particular there are shortages in things like packaging materials, obviously you might have noticed that gasoline prices are way up, that makes it more expensive to transport everything.”
Is there particular items that have mainly had a spike in prices?
“Your meats have been hit particularly hard, beef and pork especially but really very few categories are exempt from the increases we’ve been seeing” said Reed.
With the rise in household food items bought everyday economists are suggesting people shop smartly, maybe making a list of things you need beforehand and strictly following that.
“These are unprecedented times that we’re living in right?” said Reed. “So we’ve never had an economic disruption quiet like the pandemic and in some sense its not surprising that it’s causing some price movements that we haven’t seen in a long time and inflation right now is really the highest its been since 1982 so that’s a long time, so it’s certainly understandable that people are taken back at the increases that they’re seeing its not something we’re used to anymore.”
Some tips when shopping on a budget is if you are buying fruits and vegetables, try to buy the ones in season.
If you’re buying meats and cereals and canned goods, try buying in bulk and you can freeze the rest of the meats for later.
Try to limit your purchase of ready prepared food, they might be convenient but they are more expensive.
