Lousy weather, soaring fuel prices and political unrest have conspired to lift global food prices to their highest point in 20 years, sticking Washingtonians with fat grocery receipts and a renewed taste for rice and beans. Rice, in fact, is one of the few foods that costs less today than it did during the last global food crises in 2007 and 2008, but other staples like wheat and corn have skyrocketed. Corn’s jump is in part because of increased demand for its use in ethanol gasoline to combat ballooning oil prices.
Produce prices are way up, too, largely because of floods and freezing in prime growing regions like Texas, California, Mexico and Australia.
“Anything that’s fresh that got nailed by the weather has gone up,” said Douglas Singer, chef and co-owner of Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza. Eggplant used to cost $16 per 25-pound case, and now it’s $48, he said. The winter’s sickly crop of fresh tomatoes are off of Singer’s pizzas altogether — just as they’re off of subs at Potbelly’s, and off of burgers at Wendy’s.
Nationwide, at-home food prices have risen more than 2 percent in the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the D.C. area, that jump has been more pronounced — at-home food prices have risen more than 3 percent in December and January alone.
Mark Kiriakou, senior food director at the Capital Area Food Bank, said that prices have jumped between 10 and 15 percent since the beginning of February — in part because the food is more expensive, and in part because the transportation is, too. The food bank purchases a portion of its supply to supplement donations and overstock from area grocery stores.
“It means that we can’t afford to buy as much food. And if we don’t buy as much, we can’t distribute as much,” said a food bank spokeswoman.
Globally, the cause of rising food costs is complicated by politics and international trade. But the pain felt by residents in developing countries is more acute.
“When you go to Safeway, I would guess that the value of the corn in your box of corn flakes is maybe 5 or 10 percent of the total cost. So if the price of corn doubles, you might pay 5 percent more,” said Homi Kharas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “In a developing country, they buy the ear of corn and eat it, so for them the price increases are much larger.”
Outside of a Capitol Hill grocery store on Thursday, D.C. resident Mark Davis lamented about the price of the oranges, frozen pizzas and bottled water as he loaded them into his car.
“Everybody feels the pinch,” he said, though claiming the costs are manageable for now. “I’m not ready to riot like they are over in the Middle East.”
Examiner Staff Writer Alex Pappas contributed to this story.
