Food prices slightly up

Food prices have increased slightly at the grocery store, according to the latest Wisconsin Farm Bureau Marketbasket survey.

The total cost of 16 basic food items used to prepare meals was $50.32, up 1.6 percent, or 77 cents, compared to the first quarter of the year. The cost for those items was up 1.7 percent over last year.

Casey Langan is spokesman for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. He says the reason food prices have moderated is because energy prices have been stable this year. Langan says any effects from the drought on food prices will likely not be felt until next year. “The price for crops like corn and soybeans that are being grown currently in Wisconsin, they represent just a portion of the overall retail food price that you pay in the store. Most of your food price comes from energy intensive efforts like processing, and manufacturing, and the transportation of food. So the bottom line is really that the drought does not impact those costs.”

Despite higher food prices, the USDA says that U.S. consumers spend about 10 percent of their disposable income on food — that’s the lowest average in the world.