Food costs continue to rise

SOUTHEAST Mo. (KFVS) - The Department of Labor reports food prices jumped 13.1 percent in July, the biggest one-year increase since March of 1979.

We asked customers at Food Giant in Sikeston what they think of the increase in food costs.

“Everything you buy right now, you have to think about it,” Steve McPheeters said. “Budgets are a good idea. But, uh, you come to the store, and it’s higher than it was last time. You know it just costs more to fill up, costs more to eat at the table, costs more to everything you buy.”

“I do home health care and, uh, these little patients that I have are on fixed incomes,” another customer, Betty Holmes, said. “I feel sorry for them. Yes, that’s what I’m doing now, they have to cut back a lot. Oh, it’s outrageous, it’s too high. Especially with people on fixed incomes, and especially people with children.”

Annie Matthews said, “You know what I think about the baby food, what happened there?! To me that’s food, because that’s what you give your baby!”

In Cape Girardeau, Robert Gentry has ran the Corner Grocery Store for 16 years.

For him and his wife, the higher prices really hit home.

“We’ve been having issues that’s getting some our raw materials in...ingredients for our chocolate, that’s been a challenge, the time delay in it has affected us,” he said. “Cost has gone up of course.”

What’s costing you right now? Egs are up 38 percent from a year ago, coffee is up 20 percent and flour is up 23 percent.

If you’re worried about the cost of groceries, there are some simple steps you can take to save money, like buy generic instead of name-brand items and make a shopping list and stick to it.

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