Food prices continued their steady rise in September, driven by broad increases in prices for fruits and vegetables, cereals and bakery products. The price of food rose 0.8 percent last month, maintaining the pace of growth seen in August.
The price of flour grew 2 percent from the previous month, while apples gained 5 percent and lettuce rose 6.8 percent. The price of potatoes rose 3.5 percent from the previous month, while margarine was up 4.2 percent. Prices for some items fell on a monthly basis, including milk and eggs, which had risen sharply earlier this year.
On an annual basis, the food index rose 11.2 percent.
Food inflation in the United States has remained stubbornly high this year, eroding the spending power of consumers and weighing heavily on lower-income Americans, who spend a greater proportion of their income on grocery bills.
Higher food prices are driven by a range of factors, including more expensive gasoline that farmers and grocers need to transport their products. Rising worker wages and prices for inputs like packaging and fertilizer have also driven up food costs, spilling over into higher prices at grocery stores.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also disrupted exports of wheat, sunflower oil and other agricultural products, prompting shortages and pushing up food prices globally, particularly in import-dependent countries in the Middle East and Africa.
In the United States, a historic drought across the Western half of the country has lowered crop yields and raised prices for products like fruit, nuts and vegetables. Water levels on the Mississippi River have sunk to their lowest levels in decades, grounding the ships and barges that carry much of the country’s agricultural productions.
Hurricane Ian, too, has caused disruptions that will be felt through the food supply chain in the months to come. The storm damaged citrus groves and fields of tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon and other fruit across the Southeastern United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that Florida’s orange crop this year would be its smallest since 1943, even before factoring in the hurricane’s full effects.
Restaurant prices have also risen, outpacing the price gains at grocery stores in recent months. An index measuring the price of food at restaurants was up 0.9 percent monthly, while an index measuring the price of food at home gained 0.7 percent from the previous month. Domino’s Pizza raised its prices by more than 13 percent last quarter compared with the previous year, it said in its earnings report on Thursday.
Even as food prices continue to climb, the food aid offered by the federal government during the pandemic is expiring. An index for food at employee sites and schools soared 44.9 percent in September, as free school lunch programs expired.
