Americans rewire their grocery shopping routines while digesting the biggest price jump in 50 years - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

What the report says

ABC News, carrying Associated Press reporting, says Americans are changing how they buy and eat food after the steepest grocery-price increase in about 50 years. The report, published July 25, describes shoppers using store apps, coupons and weekly circulars, comparing prices across chains, switching to private-label brands and dropping some preferred items when shelf prices are too high.

The article cites government figures showing food bought for home consumption in U.S. cities has become 33% more expensive since the start of 2019, compared with a 6.4% increase in the prior 7 1/2 years. It attributes the rise to several pressures, including pandemic-era supply disruptions, higher labor and transportation costs, weather events, bird flu, tariffs and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The report says another Middle East conflict has added to food inflation this year, keeping affordability prominent ahead of the fall midterm elections.

Examples in the story include Apral Jack of Lexington, Massachusetts, who now builds meals around discounts and has stopped buying some brand-name snacks, and Ada Torres of Cleveland, Texas, who says beef has become too costly for her five-person household. ABC/AP also notes Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing ground beef reached $6.82 per pound in June, up 79% from early 2019.

The report adds that average full-time weekly earnings have slightly outpaced grocery prices since 2019, but economists and market analysts say household budgets remain strained because other expenses have also risen. Lower-income households are especially exposed: the USDA said the lowest-earning fifth of U.S. households spent about a third of pretax income on food in 2024.