Hoosiers can’t seem to escape rising food prices.
Indiana Farm Bureau’s (INFB) annual summer cookout market basket, featuring some of America’s summertime staples, revealed Hoosiers are paying an average of $6.95 per person. This is an eight percent increase compared to last year. That’s similar to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Price Outlook for grocery store food purchases, which increased 5.8 percent this past May compared to this time last year.
Indiana’s market basket price is approximately 18 cents more than the U.S. average price of $6.77 per person. This is the first time since 2019 that the total Indiana market basket price came in above the U.S. average. Additionally, the Indiana price is up 34 cents more than the average price for the Midwest region of $6.61 per person.
The total market basket price of $6.95 per person includes ground beef, cheese, hamburger buns, pork chops, chicken breasts, pork and beans, potato salad, strawberries, chips, ice cream, cookies and lemonade.
All items on the shopping list are more expensive in Indiana than last year, except cheese and pork chops, which were relatively unchanged. Many items were less than the national average, including ice cream, strawberries, pork and beans, hamburger buns, lemonade and potato salad. The items that came in significantly above the U.S. average were chocolate chip cookies, chicken breasts and chips.
While food prices have increased, so have input prices for the farmers growing that food. Drought in the west and Midwest has significantly impacted feeding costs for livestock, which has increased consumer prices for meat as well.
According to the USDA, just 14 cents of every retail food dollar can be attributed to farm production, after accounting for input costs. The rest is for food processing, packaging, transportation, wholesale and retail distribution, and food service preparation.
The INFB summer cookout market basket survey was conducted in early June by volunteer shoppers across the state who collected prices on specific food items from one of their local grocery stores. Volunteer shoppers were asked to look for the best possible prices, without taking advantage of special promotional coupons or purchase deals.
Indiana’s survey was completed in conjunction with a national survey administered by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). More details about AFBF’s national summer cookout market basket results can be found here.
