Families suffer with rising cost of groceries

Economists expect the price of food to continue rising this year.

KETTERING, Ohio (AP) — Family budgets already stressed by higher energy costs are now being squeezed by the rising cost of eggs, milk, cheese and other groceries.

Grocery shopping in this Dayton suburb, Howard and Amy Farmer of suburban Riverside said high food prices have forced them to limit how often they eat out.

The Farmers are raising three grandchildren, watching their spending and trying not to waste food.

“Hopefully, something will turn,” said Howard Farmer, a 68-year-old retired transit worker. “It is making it rough on a lot of people.”

The average cost of a gallon of milk in a Midwest city increased by 30 percent — to $3.52 from February 2007 to February 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index.

Kim Mayo doesn’t need to look at government statistics to know that food prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation.

The 47-year-old mother of two, milk-craving teenage boys sees the evidence in her bill at the supermarket checkout. The Mayo family consumes about four gallons of milk a week and about two or three dozen eggs.

“The total is definitely more,” said Mayo, estimating her food bill is $20 or $30 higher a week these days.

The Consumer Price Index for all food increased 4 percent between 2006 and 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990, the USDA said.

Economists and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are forecasting the price of food will continue to climb this year. Prices for food consumed at home are expected to increase 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, the USDA’s Economic Research Service predicts.

Leonard Kloft, director of the Wright State University master’s program in social and applied economics, said the rising price of crude oil and gasoline is driving up the cost of food production and transportation.

In addition, Kloft said, demand for food has increased internationally, with the falling U.S. dollar making U.S.-produced food cheaper for other nations to buy. Finally, the production of ethanol and biodiesel fuel is increasing the demand for corn, pushing up the price of livestock feed.

“The economy needs to work through these issues,” Kloft said. “I see some pain for us in the coming months.”