For the month of August 2022, the price of food rose 11.4% compared to the previous 12 months, according to the Consumer Price Index updated Sept. 13, 2022. Food at home increased by 13.5%,while food away from home was up 8% YoY.
Breaking it down into specific staple categories, the price for fruits and vegetables rose 9.4% for the month of August while the price for dairy and related products was up 16.2% and cereal and bakery products up 16.4%.
While no consumer is immune to rising food prices, there are pockets of US adults that are being impacted harder, according to the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging, which is based on findings from a nationally representative survey conducted by NORC (National Occurring Retirement Community) at the University of Chicago for IHPI and was administered online and via phone in July 2022 among 2,163 adults age 50 to 80.
According to the poll, 58% of adults between the ages of 50 and 80 who considered themselves to have fair or poor mental health said the rising cost of food is impacting them “a lot” with 54% responding that it’s causing them to make less healthy food choices.
Adults in the same age group with fair or poor physical health shared similar struggles, with 46% heavily impacted by rising food costs, of which 46% said they are eating less healthily as a result.
Those with a low household income (<$30,000) and fewer years of formal education (high school diploma or less) were especially badly impacted, with nearly half saying they are making less-healthy food choices due to inflation.