food prices
Grocery prices to shrink by 1 percent in greatest decline since 1959
Recent declines in the retail price of beef, veal, poultry and eggs are contributing to a 1 percent drop in grocery prices this year, the largest instance of food deflation since 1959, said the Agriculture Department. Going into the final month of the year, grocery prices are running 1.2 percent below their 2015 level, thanks to the strong dollar and low petroleum prices.
Rainy season fails in east Africa, jeopardizing farm families
"Damages to crops appear to be irreversible and rangeland conditions remain generally poor" in east Africa, following scant rainfall during the October-December rainy season, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a special alert that describes support for agriculture as an urgent need. "Food insecurity is expected to significantly deteriorate by early 2017."
California climate bills could raise food prices
Californians could see higher food prices, as well as increases for electricity, new homes and gasoline, thanks to two new state laws, adopted last summer, that are designed to lower climate emissions, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Cost of groceries for Thanksgiving drops slightly
When Americans shop for turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries and other ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal, they will get a break on prices for the second time in seven years. The price tag for groceries to cook a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people would total $49.87, said the largest U.S. farm group, which has conducted the informal survey of grocery prices since 1968.
World food prices tick upward for third month in a row
Sharply higher prices for cheese, butter and sugar pushed up the FAO Food Price Index by 0.7 percent, continuing an unbroken rise from July. The index, which tracks prices for five groups of foods, has been on the rise throughout this year and is now 9 percent higher than one year ago.
An Election-Day test for Big Ag and Big Soda
The farm lobby has a reputation for punching above its weight when it comes to federal policy, while the beverage industry usually has prevailed easily in arguments over soda taxes. Their winning records will be tested in Tuesday's general election, when polls suggest agricultural groups will lose referendums in Massachusetts and Oklahoma.
Food-import costs down 11 percent this year, lowest in six years
The world will spend $1.17 trillion on food imports, including freight costs, this year, the smallest figure since 2010 due to low prices for meat, dairy, and grains, said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
A rare year for food prices — up only 1 percent
U.S. food prices will rise by a marginal 1 percent this year, the second-smallest increase since 1974, and it's all due to lower grocery prices, said a government forecast. Groceries, which are the bulk of food spending, would cost less this year than they did in 2015 — the first taste of price deflation at the supermarket since 1967.
Restaurants are hurting as more Americans eat at home
Americans aren’t eating out like they used to, and restaurants are feeling the pain. According to Bloomberg, U.S. restaurant sales “grew in the second quarter at their slowest pace since 2009,” partially because customers find it too expensive to eat out. Restaurants have had to raise menu prices to keep up with higher minimum wages and other cost factors, while grocery prices have dropped for the last 10 months straight.
Smallest rise in supermarket prices in six years
Americans this year will see the smallest overall rise in supermarket prices since 2010, a barely noticeable 0.5 percent, said the Agriculture Department in lowering its forecast of food-at-home prices for the fifth month in a row. Food prices are forecast by USDA to rise by 1.5 percent at the supermarket next year on the back of higher meat and dairy prices in the new year.
Meat production expands rapidly, prices fall faster
U.S. red meat and poultry production in the final half of this year will be 3-percent higher than the same period in 2015, say USDA economists. The rapid expansion in the beef, pork and poultry supply will mean lower market prices across the board, with cattle down 11.7 percent, hogs down 8.3 percent, broiler chickens down 5 percent and turkeys down 6.8 percent.
U.S. heads for third year of below-normal food inflation
The strong dollar and low oil prices are slowing food price inflation to its lowest rate in six years, a barely noticeable 1.5 percent this year, says the Agriculture Department. And, looking ahead, USDA economists say 2017 will be the third year in a row that food inflation is far below normal.
Biggest increase in FAO Food Price Index in four years
Surging grain, sugar, meat and dairy prices worldwide drove up the FAO Food Price Index 4.2 percent, the steepest one-month increase in the index in four years. June was the fifth month in a row for an increase in the index, which tracks the average international price of a basket of food commodities, now at its highest reading since last July.
Global food insecurity declines, with lower prices, higher income
Rising incomes and lower food prices will lift tens of millions of people out of food insecurity in the coming decade, said a government forecast. The insecurity rate, now one-in-six people globally, would shrink to one-in-17, with Asia seeing the greatest improvement.
Drought is becoming a routine scourge of the Caribbean, says FAO
The 15 nations of the Caribbean, an array of islands and coastal nations, experiences drought-like weather every year and can expect droughts to be increasingly frequent and intense due to climate change, says an FAO report. "Agriculture is the most likely sector to be impacted, with serious economic and social consequences," said the UN agency.
Cost of a summer cookout? About the same as last year.
Lower grocery-store prices for hamburgers and hotdogs are helping to keep the lid on the price of a summer cookout, according to spot checks of supermarkets in 26 states. The survey, organized by the largest U.S. farm group and released ahead of the Independence Day holiday, said the grocery bill for enough food to feed 10 people would be $56.06, or $5.60 a person.
Lowest food inflation rate in three years, thanks to meat
At the grocery store or at the restaurant, Americans will see the smallest rise in food prices since 2013, a negligible 1.5 percent, says a new government forecast. USDA economists lowered their food inflation forecast for the second month in a row to reflect falling prices for beef, pork and seafood.
Global land grab worsens, covers 30 million hectares
The worldwide spike in food prices nearly a decade ago set off a land-buying surge by wealthy investors and nations wanting to shore up their food supply by acquiring cropland in developing nations. The surge was decried by critics as land grabs that would displace small farmers and herders. "The emerging new trend we wrote about in 2008 has continued and become worse," says the nonprofit Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN).
Trump says it’s hard to bring down prices
President-elect Donald Trump, who recently told an interviewer, “I won on groceries,” said in a Time magazine transcript released on Thursday, “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up.” Meanwhile, a Purdue University poll found that consumers have lowered their expectations for food inflation.