Food prices soar as incomes stand still

CBS News

February 16, 2014

NEW YORK - Writer Jen Singer, the mother of two teenage boys, wrestles with her grocery list every week to keep the household budget from getting away from her.

"I'd like the government to stop by my house, come food shopping with me and see where the real costs are," she said.

The adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is impossible thanks to apple prices, she said.

"We go through one of these every few days," she said, holding a loaf of bread. "It's a big part of my take home pay."

Some experts believe food inflation is greater than the government thinks

 CBS NEWS

 

It's is not her imagination. While the government says prices are up 6.4 percent since 2011, chicken is up 18.4 percent, ground beef is up 16.8 percent and bacon has skyrocketed up 22.8 percent, making it a holiday when it's on sale.

"Oh my god!" Singer said as she spied bacon for $3.

"The things that are going up in price are the things I absolutely need to buy," she said. "It's the meat, it's the milk, it's the eggs and it's getting out of hand."

Beef, chicken and bacon prices have soared

 CBS NEWS

 

ConvergEx market strategist, Nick Colas, said that mothers could tell the government a lot about inflation.

"Food inflation is far greater than the government thinks it is," he said.

But the big problem for families:  Wages are not budging.

"If my income isn't going up, how am I going to keep up with inflation?" Singer asked.

Read the entire article