Food prices in the Commonwealth increased slightly in the second quarter of 2016, the first increase in more than one year, according to a survey by the Kentucky Farm Bureau.
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The Kentucky Farm Bureau Marketbasket Survey, a quarterly measure of the average total cost of 40 basic grocery items, showed a 1.03-percent increase. The slight rise was the survey’s first increase since the fourth quarter of 2014.
The overall cost of the items totaled an average of $120.16, as compared to the $118.92 recorded during the first quarter of 2016.
The largest individual category increases were in dairy products, which rose in price by 5.4 percent, followed by beef, which rose 2 percent. Cheddar cheese, for example, increased by 87 cents per pound, and the average price for chuck roast rose by 66 cents per pound. The largest category decrease was for poultry products, which fell by 3.2 percent followed by fruits and vegetables, which dropped by nearly 1.5 percent. The average price of extra-large eggs decreased by 26 cents per dozen, and the cost of tomatoes fell by 50 cents per pound.
Kentucky food-price increases were slightly higher than the latest national Consumer Price Index (CPI) information which indicated a 0.1 percent decline in overall national food prices during June. The CPI also denoted a 0.3 percent drop in the food at home index.
According to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The food at home index has declined 1.3 percent over the past year, its largest 12-month decline since February 2010. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes have decreased over the period.”
In January of 2016, the Kentucky Farm Bureau reported that overall food prices in its Marketbasket Survey had dropped an average of 7.5 percent in 2015, with the overall cost of items totaling an average of $119.43 in the fourth quarter of 2015. The final quarter of 2014 showed the average price of surveyed items to be $129.14.