Coping With High Food Prices

Posted on May 15, 2025
Filed Under Health |

Enjoy the article and be sure to stop by Thingamababy, which is one of the most fun parenting blogs around:

While waiting for Seth to get out of school, I asked a couple moms, “Do you notice anything different at Whole Foods?”

“Yes, the produce isn’t as fresh,” complained one mom. “Perhaps it’s sitting on the shelves longer?”

“Uh, their prices,” answered another. “We don’t go their as much.”

A few days later, I was at the Scottsdale-Phoenix Smart & Final, a Western chain that sells cleaning, restaurant and bulk food supplies at low cost. When we lived in California, I would load up on toilet paper, paper towels, tissues and a few other items like water and healthy snacks. The store there often was frequented by restaurant owners and janitors.

But in the spic-and-span Scottsdale Smart & Final, well-dressed moms and dads pulled up in the largest SUVs I’ve ever seen. After listening to some conversations and talking to one parent, I discovered they were newbies at the chain.

I soon discovered Americans are increasingly turning to discount retailers to cope with rising food prices. Both Sam’s Club and Costco experienced a large increase of shoppers from September 2006 to April, reports The New York Times. Almost 12 percent of the new shoppers had incomes above $75,000.

Aldi, a food store that emphasizes no frills and limited product selection, is also seeing a surge in traffic, reports The New York Times. Despite the stores’ narrow aisles, limited choices and lack of traditional shelving, shoppers have been spending far less at Aldi stores for decades. (My mom occasionally shopped at the stores when I was growing up in the Chicago area. Sadly, there are no stores in Arizona.)

Before you sniff, “I never heard of Aldi,” you should know that this German company owns Trader Joe’s and is responsible for that chain’s relatively low prices.

For parents hoping that a recent decline in oil and commodity prices will provide relief, think again, reports another New York Times story. Many companies are keeping prices high to offset losses earlier this year.

Pricing is not the only way food manufacturers are squeezing consumers. Some companies are shrinking package sizes, reports the Canadian Press:

Skippy peanut butter, made by Unilever, now sells in 16.3-ounce jars that look the same size as the previous 18-ounce jars because of a larger indentation at the bottom. Kraft is reducing the number and in some cases the size of items in one of its cheese lines, for example. Sara Lee has reduced the size of some of its deli meat packages from 10 ounces to nine ounces. The prices, for the most part, don’t go down.

This is happening even as retail food prices increased an average of 6 percent this year. More from the Canadian Press:

“These rising food costs have to be paid for by somebody,” he said. “The question is how are you going to pay for them? Are you going to pay for them in keeping your out-of-pocket cost constant by buying smaller portions, or are you going to be paying more for what you paid last year?”

School lunches are especially hard hit. In the Albany, N.Y., area, school lunches are expected to rise by up to 18 percent, reports the Times-Union. Other regions have also reported increases.

High food prices are even worrying health care experts, reports The Wall Street Journal. That’s because Americans with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, are hard pressed to pay for the high-quality food they need:

“Fruits and vegetables are by definition becoming luxury goods,” says Adam Drewnowski, director of the University of Washington Center for Obesity Research. In a study released last December, he found that the prices of some healthy foods in Seattle-area grocery stores had jumped 16% between 2004 and 2006, while less-nutritious items had gone up only gradually. “The nutrition gap is growing,” he says. “My fear in public health is that it will continue to grow.”

Tell me about it. I start in the fresh produce section whenever I go to a grocer and use the rest of the store to fill in the gaps. When produce prices are too high, I buy more frozen fruit and veggies from the freezer section. Needless to stay, our freezer is stuffed.

What’s particularly difficult to gauge: ingredient substitutions and quality reductions. When food companies are stressed, for example, they often substitute corn syrup for sugar. But what do food manufacturers use when corn gets too expensive? No idea.

Because I regularly check ingredient labels – my wife is allergic to corn syrup and I’m allergic to milk – I have a sense of when substitutions occur. But as far as I know, there is no good way to track product changes, which usually happen without fanfare unless someone gets sick or complains.

Another kind of substitution: country of origin. For example, salmon and grapes often comes from Chile. Melons coming from Honduras were recalled in March for salmonella contamination. But often fish, meat and produce are labeled. The same cannot be said for packaged foods, which may have ingredients from multiple countries.

Perhaps the best indication that food companies are cutting back on quality can be measured in recalls. Whole Foods had to recall some beef after one of its providers switched to a less expensive packing house known for less-than-stellar quality, reports The New York Times. And don’t forget more than 1,440 people were hospitalized after consuming jalapeño and Serrano peppers contaminated by salmonella, reports U.S. News and World Report. The Food and Drug Administration wasted 89 days blaming tomatoes for the outbreak. Expect more recalls if food makers and growers continue to cut costs.

What can apprehensive parents do? Now that we’re living in the suburbs instead of on the 15th floor in Chicago, we’ve planted a garden. Perhaps nothing will grow in the hard, gooey-red Scottsdale soil, but certainly some crops – zucchini always grows – will take the edge off of high food prices. An added bonus: my kids get to learn something about botany and dirt.

Farmer’s markets are another good option, though some charge far beyond big box stores. Savings success will vary by family and location. Chicago’s and LA’s farmer’s markets were exorbitant to begin with.

Changing what you buy can also make a big difference: avoid the high-end specialty products around the rim of stores like Whole Foods and processed foods in the middle of all grocers. Potatoes are still relatively inexpensive. Store-brand products and frozen produce often tend to be less expensive.

Another option is those 99 cent stores. To be honest, I refuse to buy expired food or cans from questionable origin, but if you’re okay with the idea, at least you cannot complain too much about inflation. The first ever price increase at the stores was about a penny, reports the Los Angeles Times.

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