July 4th Cookout Costs 17 Percent More Than A Year Ago
By Mark Heim, AL.com, July 1, 2022
It looks like inflation will hit you again. This time for your July 4 feast.
U.S. consumers will pay more for their favorite Independence Day cookout foods, including cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, homemade potato salad, strawberries and ice cream, based on a new American Farm Bureau Federation survey.
The average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $69.68, which breaks down to less than $7 per person. The overall cost for the cookout is up 17 percent or about $10 from last year, a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions, inflation and the war in Ukraine.
“Despite higher food prices, the supply chain disruptions and inflation have made farm supplies more expensive; like consumers, farmers are price-takers not price-makers,” AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan said. “Bottom line, in many cases the higher prices farmers are being paid aren’t covering the increase in their farm expenses. The cost of fuel is up and fertilizer prices have tripled.”
The marketbasket survey shows the largest year-to-year price increase was for ground beef.
Survey results showed the retail price for 2 pounds of ground beef at $11.12, up 36 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, farm-level cattle prices are up 17.5 percent from a year ago, but wholesale beef prices are down 14 percent.
Several other foods in the survey, including chicken breasts, pork chops, homemade potato salad, fresh-squeezed lemonade, pork & beans, hamburger buns and cookies, also increased in price.
One bright spot for consumers is the average retail price for strawberries, which declined by 86 cents compared to a year ago. Sliced cheese and potato chips also dropped in price, 48 cents and 22 cents, respectively.