Consumers fret over food costs; here’s where they hurt most

Consumer confidence has been dropping in recent weeks as food prices remain high. Some foods, like eggs, remain extremely high because of a plague sweeping the country’s bird population.

USAToday recently reported on a study by WalletHub that showed people are paying the highest percentages of their incomes for food mostly in southern states.

*Food prices remain stubbornly high. Here are the states feeling the most pain.*

States where shoppers spend the highest percentage of income on groceries are:

Mississippi (2.64%)
West Virginia (2.57%)
Arkansas (2.49%)
Kentucky (2.41%)
Louisiana (2.39%)
New Mexico (2.36%)
Alabama (2.34%)
South Carolina (2.27%)
Tennessee (2.23%)
Oklahoma (2.21%)

“The top states also coincide with the states where the median income is the lowest in the country, said Chip Lupo, writer and analyst for WalletHub,” USAToday reports. U.S. food prices have risen a total of roughly 25% in the past five years, the newspaper reports.

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February 25, 2025 0

Weight loss & food choices, really?

LoseIt has been pumping out a lot of diet info as the new year begins. This one particularly caught my eye because it seems kind of guffy, Most-Logged Foods in 2024 by Those Who’ve Lost 50 Pounds or More.

Banks are something I have daily.
Photo by Couleur on Pexels.com

Does eating these foods regularly lead to weight loss? That’s the implication. But our nutrition and eating habits are much more complex than that, I’d contend.

LoseIt looks at it this way, “Food choices play a crucial role in losing weight, and our Lose It! members understand this well. From breakfast to dinner, they carefully log their meals to maintain consistency and stay on track with their weight loss goals. These 11 foods were the most popular in 2024 among members who achieved an impressive weight loss of 50 pounds or more.”

You decide. The food are eggs, bananas, blueberries, chicken breast, white rice, bacon and 2% milk.

Bacon and white rice are on my heart-patient do-not-eat list, so I’m not so sure if they would help me use weight. I’m lactose-intolerant, so milk is also out. Egg prices have gone so high recently because of bird flu that I’m stopped buying them. And I don’t like blueberries. I do eat bananas every day to maintain my potassium levels.

January 15, 2025 0

Up for a wellness challenge? Check out NYT

The New York Times started the year with a five-day wellness challenge, a series to help you shop for healthier foods.

Fiber One ultraprocessed? Yes, according to the *Times*.

Day one defines ultra processed foods and gives you a digital game to see how much of what you buy can fit the definition.

Some of the results may surprise you, as I’m sure they were picked to do.

I found out, for example, that Fiber One cereal, my fallback buy when I can’t find Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal, is considered ultra processed because of thickening agents and Sucrolose it contains.

How does the series define ultraprocessed?

“Ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, are commonly defined as products you couldn’t typically make in your own kitchen. They contain ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, protein isolates, emulsifiers and artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners. Think chicken nuggets, hot dogs, flavored yogurts, sodas and many breakfast cereals, packaged breads and snack foods,” it states.

January 11, 2025 0

A primer on building your food budget

Rising food costs have obsessed consumers in these post-Covid times. While signs have emerged that costs have leveled off, they likely won’t fall any time soon, so everyone needs to work on budgeting for their food needs. If you haven’t done this, a good place to start is with this primer The New York Times ran recently entitled 9 Tips to Stretch Your Food Budget.

Among the tips are changes in lifestyle — eat less meat, snacking less and avoid wasting food. But there are also ways to save money, like using coupons and knowing your grocery store and how to find the cheaper offerings in a. given food category.

Coupons these days are largely digital, be sure to have the shopping app for every store you shop at to get their best deals. Also, check out national couponing sites. These tend to have coupons for major brands, which I tend to avoid because they’re usually the most expensive, but you can get occasional deals.

My goal is to only buy sale/coupon items every time I shop, and to save at least 30% off full prices overall. You can see an example of one of my recent receipts here with all the discounts noted.

July 3, 2024 0

Grocery costs stable in May but still higher than 3 years ago

The good news is that inflation, and the increases seen in food prices the past three years, are moderating. The bad news, those food prices are still 20% higher overall than they were three years ago.

*Everything you buy should be a deal or a sale, check this receipt of mine to see the savings.*

Grocery prices were unchanged in May compared with April, according to Consumer Price Index information released for May recently.

“Wednesday’s report indicated that consumers are beginning to get some relief from the price spikes of the past three years. Grocery costs were unchanged, on average, from April to May, after actually falling 0.2% the previous month. Food prices have risen just 1% over the past 12 months, though they’re still up about 20% from three years ago,” reports Associated Press.

Smart shopping can cut your food bills, always be on the lookout for digital deals and other possible savings when you plan your weekly food shopping trips.

Producers won’t cut prices unless demand drops dramatically, so it’s up to you to manage your budget and find the deals.

June 12, 2024 1

Low-salt Easter turkeys are scarce in 2024

One of the most popular posts on my blog this time of year deals with making turkey for Easter dinner to cut down on your salt intake at the holiday table. You can read it by clicking Low-salt Easter dinner: how to enjoy the holiday meal.

Sarra Lee reduced sodium oven roasted turkey — *Beware self-basting turkeys, they are loaded with salt. Always read the nutrition label before buying.*

In the post-Covid food retailing environment, however, finding a fresh, low-sodium turkey has been tough. Two mainline supermarkets I went to had only one turkey brand, Jennie-O or Butterball, in freezer and refrigerated cases crammed with high-salt hams. Those turkeys come with self-basting fluids that are loaded with salt.

I finally turned to Whole Foods which thankfully had fresh turkeys, although even those had more salt, 125 mg a serving, than truly fresh turkeys which have about 75 mgs per serving. And I had to pay up, around $3 a pound, for the fresh turkey.

Another issue, stores are no longer carrying low-fat turkey gravy. During and after Covid, supermarkets cut the number of products they carried to simplify their supply chain management, and to increase profits. Low-salt, low-fat and low-sugar items suffered as a result.

Shop carefully this Easter, always read nutrition labels and enjoy a peaceful Sunday dinner.

March 27, 2024 0

Thanksgiving food costs are down; here’s how to drive them even lower

The good news for Thanksgiving 2023 is that food costs are down compared to last year. The American Farm Bureau estimates you can feed Thanksgiving dinner to a family of 10 this year for $61.17 compared with $64.05 act year.

But if you’re a smart shopper, you can drive your costs down even more. To do that:

Continue reading →

November 22, 2023 0

Another look at Ezekiel bread, a low-salt option for bread eaters

American eat too much salt, there’s really no dispute about that. And bread is one of the major sources of that salt, even though few people realize it.

So when you switch to a low-salt diet, most bread is off-limits to you.

Years back, Trader Joe’s sold a salt-free whole wheat bread which I used for holiday turkey stuffing among other things. But it’s no longer available, gone even before the Pandemic wiped many low-salt products off store shelves.

Bread can be hiding more salt than you imagine, shop wisely for a low-salt variety.

So the most prominent low-salt bread that’s widely available these days is Ezekiel bread, something I found distasteful when I was first giving up salt in 2013 but have come to appreciate now.

A recent story on EatingWell.com outlines the many benefits of it but barely touches on it being low-salt.

You need to read the nutrition label to see the salt content.

I’ve given up almost all bread since I started eating low-salt after my first stent back in 2012. But when I need some, I buy Ezekiel bread, so keep it in mind when you’re craving some toast or a sandwich.

July 18, 2023 0

Food inflation is easing; smart shopping can help even more

*These Covid shopping lines are gone, and food prices are coming down as a result.*

Food prices are easing, albeit from a high rate of inflation last year, according to the recent report on the Consumer Price Index for food at home.

You can bring your costs down even more by always pre-planning shopping trips and taking advantage of sales.

This week, for example, I saved 55% of my purchase price during my weekly shopping trip to a local Jewel by using digital coupons and stocking up on sale items.

“On a year-over-year basis, the CPI for food at home is up 7.1%, which is elevated over the norm but down from the 11.3% rate in the opening month of 2023. Within the grocery sector, shoppers encountered lower prices across several categories: Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that four of the six major grocery store indexes posted decreases in April,” reports Progressive Grocer, an industry trade magazine.

“The CPI for dairy and related products fell the most (-0.7%) last month, while the index for fruits and vegetables went down by 0.5%, the price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs slipped 0.3% and nonalcoholic beverage prices saw a slight 0.1% downturn. The CPI for cereals and bakery and for “other” food at home both increased 0.2% in April,” PG reports.

So take heart, the worst of inflation is over. Be a smart shopper and drive it down even more.

May 18, 2023 0

Add olive oil to foods facing a troubled year with higher prices

Eggs became a previous commodity earlier this year as did turkey thanks to bird flu sweeping through American flocks. Now a drought in Spain promised higher olive oil prices.

*Olive oil we brought back from Italy in 2017.*

“The recent October to February olive harvest produced a yield 50% less than the usual output, tightening global supply and pushing prices upward,” reports CNBC.

“The exceedingly poor weather conditions meant that … Spain produced an olive oil crop of around 630,000 metric tonnes, down from the usual 1.4 to 1.5 million metric tonnes harvest,” Mintec’s oilseeds and vegetable oils analyst Kyle Holland told CNBC recently.

“It appears the ongoing drought in Europe, most importantly in the largest olive oil-producing region of Spain, has caused a global supply shortage of olive oil,” David Valmorbida, president of the Australian Olive Oil Association, told CNBC.

Olive oil is touted by nutritionists as having “healthy” fat that we can eat. Olive oil and vinegar are my regular salad dressing, being much healthier than any high-fat, high-salt prepared dressings.

So if you see olive oil on sale, grab it. And buy in bulk to get better per-ounce pricing

May 12, 2023 0

Tag: smart shopping