First if was some stuff about Bird Flu and the price of eggs shot up by 50+%…..then Donny imposed his tariffs and everything became more and more expensive….first it was the prices for meat….
Of course I felt obligated to pass on what I had read about this rise….
So like any other normal person I decided to supplement my smaller meat portions with veggies…..now that is not going to happen….
Wholesale food prices rose 1.4% from June to July, with one big subsector leading the way: fresh and dry vegetables, which surged 38.9% in that same time period, per the AP. That’s the largest month-on-month spike for veggies since March 2022, as well as the biggest increase in a summer month since record-keeping for this data started after World War II, reports Axios, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The outlet notes that these wholesale stats could portend a jump in prices soon at the supermarket as well.
So how much does this “veggie-flation” have to do with the Trump administration’s ongoing global trade war? “Because we get most of that produce across the border, and they’re imports, the tariffs have a lot to do with that,” Phil Kafarakis, CEO of IFMA The Food Away From Home Association, tells Axios. “Over a third of our vegetables are imported,” agrees Michigan State University food economist David Ortega, who tells Marketplace that items like tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, and asparagus are especially susceptible to higher tariffs.
Kafarakis, meanwhile, tells Axios that things could even get worse in the fall, when harvest season begins, with a possible decline in farm workers to gather that produce amid Trump’s accompanying immigration crackdown. “Getting into October, the quality and then the capacity of what we’re able to bring in is going to be a real, real problem,” he notes. “Prices will soar to keep demand in check.”
I guess that means if I want to get more healthy food I will be eating more fruit….that is wrong as well for a lot of our fruit comes through import and that means higher prices for this as well….
Since produce is getting more expensive does that mean vegans will be paying through nose more so than us god awful meat eaters?
Thoughts?
Finally a short economics lesson…..just a look at how much we spend on groceries….
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) July 2025 food plans, a moderate-to-liberal-cost grocery plan for a single adult ranges from roughly $300 to $450 per month, depending on age and gender. For a family of four, following a moderate-cost USDA food plan, monthly grocery spending would rise to around $1,337.60, depending on the ages of the children — a 3.4% increase from $1,293 in the same month in 2023. Even the low-cost (thrifty) plan would cost a family of four $994 a month.
Using the USDA’s food plan as a guide, a single adult, earning the national median monthly income of $5,175, should plan on spending roughly 7-9% of their income on groceries. Meanwhile a family of four earning the national median household income, which was $80,610 via the Census Bureau’s 2024 report, should plan on spending as much as 20% of their income on food every month. However, while these USDA figures offer a structured benchmark, they’re ultimately falling short of what most people are actually spending. The BLS has found that the average American is spending $504 on groceries monthly, but the USDA suggests that a single adult should be spending $400 instead — a 22% difference. Even worse, this is before factoring in things like regional price differences, dietary needs, bad grocery shopping strategies, and food waste.
Read More: https://www.moneydigest.com/1938236/how-much-money-average-american-spends-on-groceries-per-month/
And this is far from over…..who would have thought that in this land of abundance eating could become a luxury?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
We’re Americans, dammit! No one can beat our meat!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha— that’s hilarious, Doug!
Only if AI does not take over one’s life. chuq
The veggies are already under economic attack because, for one example, many of the Florida-based growers are stopping their operations because their immigrant work force have stopped coming to work for fear of deportation…and there is no one to pick the crops which are now beginning to rot on the vine —so not only will veggies become outrageously expensive, there might also be massive shortages of vegetables in the stores in just a few weeks from now …and imagine the companys who put their vegetables into cans for sale…soup companies, chili-manufacturers–pot pie makers …you name it…lots of spin off on this tragic state of affairs. I can envision Four dollar apples …I can envision $2,99 each for lemons …I can envision $12,00 for a bunch of grapes ….I can envision Ten dollars or more for a small container of strawberries … the strawberry crop is already in mortal danger.
I “liked” this not because of the “message,” but because it clearly points out what’s coming.
Not to worry it will make America great again. chuq
When you get rid of the people who pick the vegetables in the field, (that happened to us with Brexit) and the local people will not do field labour for a small daily cash in hand payment, then the farmers just let much of it rot, then charge extra for what is actually picked. They should have thought about that before deporting all the south Americans and Mexicans who worked in the fields. Trump wouldn’t have thought of that, as he only eats burgers and fries, no vegetables or fruit.
Best wishes, Pete.
Forethought is sadly missing these days……just to make a dumb point. chuq
Agriculture, food production. processing and distribution in the US is already so thoroughly f**ked up thanks to more than 100 years of government meddling it’s ridiculous. Things like supply and demand which people think has some effect on the markets long ago ceased to be much of a factor, replaced instead with the wishes of whoever coughs up enough money to buy enough congressmen and state legislators. The US has actually literally started wars at the behest of some of the big food companies, overthrown legitimately elected governments, allegedly assassinated labor leaders in other countries and allegedly even here in the US… The list goes on and on. Just look up the Banana Wars on Wikipedia sometime and you’ll find out what I mean. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Great points….and you are right our economic ship is headed straight at that iceberg. chuq
Last week I went shopping, a task my husband has taken to with great glee, for some reason; but I decided it was time I went, and when I got to the cash register I thought I misheard the clerk, until I looked at the tab: 183 dollars, and change. nahhh, I thought, this must be a mistake. $183 for a weeks worth of groceries for two people? REALLY? bread, milk, canned goods, eggs, butter, nothing fancy, and not huge amounts. I’m still reeling. Im thinking, maybe I should do this more often. NOT EVEN ANY MEAT IN THERE… What a good reason to go on a diet.
Judy with prices still rising the only diet for some will be to cease eating altogether. chuq
Thanks as always for such intelligent and insightful facts and figures…you simply cannot charge companies more to send in their goods without those costs being passed on…now add a loss of work force to harvest crops, and you will see shortages…which raises prices. Donald Trump has declared bankruptcy multiple times in his career and is steering our country toward the same fate. For those who are truly curious, look up stories about rural hospitals shutting down due to budget cuts from he government..these medical clinics are overwhelmingly closing in red states…those who supported him most
John those that support him the most do not care as long as ‘immigrants’ are a target…..illustrates just how ignorant they truly are. chuq