As Americans wander through grocery stores, stunned by high prices everywhere, it highlights a central issue that has dogged the Biden-Harris administration since it took office: Inflation is still hitting hard.
This is not just inflation, but the kind of inflation that hits the prices of food products, the bread and butter of every home’s kitchen.
The numbers tell a dire story. Polls consistently show inflation as voters’ top concern, and it’s easy to see why: Under the Biden-Harris administration, the cost of “food at home” (official slang for groceries) has soared by more than 21%.
A recent YouGov poll found that 77% of Americans consider inflation a “very important” issue. Financial Times Found 78% of registered voters say inflation is one of the top three causes of personal financial stress.
Food inflation has been at the heart of voter anxiety over rising prices. Financial Times The poll found that 78% of voters said food inflation was a major drag on their financial situation.
While the White House has tried to downplay the issue by pointing to a recent slowdown in inflation, the fact remains that food prices have skyrocketed under Harris’ administration, and she played a pivotal role in the legislative agenda that got us to this point, with a tie-breaking Senate vote that passed trillions of dollars in spending that many economists say contributed to the inflation crisis.
The first 42 months of the Biden-Harris administration have seen the largest increase in food inflation under any president since President Jimmy Carter. This is the third-largest increase in the first three-and-a-half years of a presidential term recorded in data going back to 1952, trailing only President Carter’s record and President Nixon’s second term.
By contrast, food prices rose just 6.3% during President Donald Trump’s first 42 months in office.
Food prices are still rising: The food index rose 0.2% in July, with the category that includes groceries rising 0.1%. This marked the second consecutive month of price increases after the Consumer Price Index for Food at Home was down for four consecutive months.
