Categories: News

Groceries and alcohol are getting more expensive, as Covid-19 roils food supply chain

The cost of groceries jumped significantly in April, raising concerns about food insecurity as unemployment inches toward Depression-era levels and food banks scramble to keep up. Meat prices rose 4.3 percent last month, eggs rose 16.1 percent, and cereal and bakery goods rose 4.3 percent, according to a Morning Call report on stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What’s to blame? For one: Covid-19 has severely disrupted traditional supply chains, forcing processing plants to run at slower and lower capacities. Meanwhile, grocery demand is higher than ever, as stay-at-home orders shut restaurants down across the country. Even alcohol is getting pricier, by 6.1 percent compared to last year. One commodity that is getting cheaper? Gas.

Related Post
The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

3 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

3 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

3 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

3 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago