Inflation hits supermarkets hard: Bacon prices are up 19%

Shocking prices at supermarkets

The real economic battleground for America's families is at the supermarket. Grocers are struggling to absorb some cost hikes so consumers are stunned by the price tags.

YONKERS, N.Y. - As the Federal Reserve considers how best to fight inflation this week, the real economic battleground for America's families is at the grocery store.

In the aisles of U.S. supermarkets, the prices of food staples are rising. Bacon is up 18.8%, beef is higher by 16.2%, oranges are up 14.3%, pork is up 14%, chicken has risen 13.2%, and crackers and bread are higher by 12.7% in February 2022 versus February 2021.

But dig deeper into the prices of crops used as ingredients in many foods, and the numbers are even more startling. Wheat is up 47%, corn is up 28%, and soybeans are up 22% in February year-over-year.

Grocers are struggling to absorb some cost hikes. Stew Leonard Jr., the CEO of Stew Leonard's, said his customers are used to small price increases but nothing like this.

"I've been doing this for 50 years now, OK, our family business," Leonard said. "What I notice — customers are numb. They just expect prices to have trickled up a little bit."

Consumers are expecting more of the same, seeing a 9% hike in food prices year over year, according to the New York Federal Reserve.

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Why are consumer prices rising?

Inflation is a measure of how much more goods and services cost over a certain period — usually a year. An increase in the supply of money, which can happen in different ways, leads to the loss of purchasing power. In the spring of 2020, lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a collapse of the U.S. economy.

However, instead of a long-lasting economic downturn, government stimulus spending and the Federal Reserve Bank's emergency moves fueled an economic comeback. Consumers, even ones who were still staying at home, wanted to spend money.

But many businesses had trouble meeting the demand because of shortages in labor and materials. So with all this pent-up demand and a dearth of supply, costs rose. >What is inflation? Read more about it here.

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With FOX 5 NY Staff.