Looming Price-Hikes On Food Set To Hit Americans Even Harder This Fall
June 1, 2022 NEWS
Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,
In its effort to contain inflation, the Federal Reserve has launched what many expect to be an ongoing series of interest rate increases, which are already taking a toll on stock and housing markets, with job losses likely to follow. As weary as Americans have become from paying record high gas and grocery prices, however, another round of price hikes is making its way through the food supply chain and is expected to reach consumers this fall.
“People don’t realize what’s fixing to hit them,” said Texas farmer Lynn “Bugsy” Allen.
“They think it’s tough right now, you give it until October. Food prices are going to double.”
The 8.8 percent increase in food prices that Americans have already seen does not take into account the dramatic cost increases that farmers are now experiencing. This is because farmers pay their costs upfront and only recoup them at the point of sale, months later.
“Usually, what we see on the farm, the consumer doesn’t see for another 18 months,” said John Chester, a Tennessee farmer of corn, wheat, and soybeans. But with the severity of these cost increases, consumers could feel the effects much sooner, particularly if weather becomes a factor.
Lorenda Overman, a North Carolina farmer who raises hogs and grows corn, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, said the spike in fuel costs has put her farm into the red this year. “Nothing that consumers are paying is going to bridge the gap for farmers right now,” she said. “The prices now have not hit the grocery stores yet,” but she expects they will start to by the end of summer.
Much of the cost of food hinges on the price of oil.
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