Food affordability remains a top concern for many Americans. The Center for American Progress is out with a new report looking at one potential solution, but economists are weary.
Posts by David L. Ortega
Are #Walmart customers getting overcharged for misweighed meats? A Georgia man's TikTok series has gone viral showing mislabeled meats that led some shoppers to be charged more than double. Read my @usatoday.com story. www.usatoday.com/story/grocer...
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Orwell, 1984
-14 F this morning in Michigan 🥶
The government has an inflation-busting meal idea: “It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing.”
WSJ reporters hit grocery stores to look for a meal as described at that price. 🔗 on.wsj.com/4qX5FH2
Really unprecedented
“An agenda that Americans were told would lower prices has instead pushed them higher, creating an affordability crisis just in time for the holidays,” writes @dlortega.bsky.social, a food economics and policy professor at @michiganstateu.bsky.social, in an op-ed.
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U.S. shoppers spent significantly more because everything costs significantly more.
Again, as with all the other federal budget cuts that are incinerating 20-25% of the funding & the entire budget model of every R1 university in 🇺🇸, this is a five-alarm emergency that requires immediate, loud, collective condemnation by our university presidents. Total 🦗 as it’s all being gutted.
Talking turkey prices with my friends at @pbsnews.org 🦃🍂
No, Thanksgiving is not 25% cheaper this year.
KARL: The president claims that Thanksgiving costs are down 25%. Does he know that's not true?
HASSETT: Well if you look at Walmart--
KARL: Wait a minute. I've gotta stop you. The Walmart package this year contains much less than the one last year. That's why the price is less.
Talking #tariffs and food affordability on CBS Evening News. Rolling back some of the #food tariffs helps ease upward pressure, but prices are downward-sticky. Any relief at the grocery store will take time.
The arsonist turned firefighter
Brooke Rollins says on Newsmax SNAP participants will have to re-apply for the program.
Details are still unclear.
via Grace Yarrow for @politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Ahead of Thanksgiving, many families, and the grocers who serve them, face tough choices.
Delays in #SNAP payments strain budgets and ripple through communities.
I spoke with @nytimes.com about what’s at stake for families and food retailers. 👇
Food prices since Trump took office
Food economist here 🙋🏽♂️ would like to disagree and point out that grocery inflation since Trump took office has accelerated relative to the preceding months.
Also those price increases for coffee, ground beef, chocolate, bananas, and canned goods in recent months? That’s in large part the tariffs!
We crunched the federal data and found the US is on track to have the *fewest inspections since 2011* (excluding pandemic years). In recent years, the FDA has typically been able to conduct ~110 foreign food inspections each month, but in March, the number of inspections dropped almost in half.
We crunched the federal data and found the US is on track to have the *fewest inspections since 2011* (excluding pandemic years).
In recent years, the FDA has typically been able to conduct ~110 foreign food inspections each month, but in March, the number of inspections dropped almost in half.
We’ve made America so great that I just booked a backup rental car for my weekend return flight home. 🙄
*checks price data*
Wholesale turkey 🦃 prices 40%🔺y/y
Retail beef roast 🥩 prices 18%🔺
SCOTUS skeptical of Trump’s tariffs during oral arguments today.
Since the president took office, food prices have increased 1.7% 📈
Groceries are up 1.6% 🔺
Menu prices are up 2.5% 🔺