The price of chicken is up a whopping five-and-a-half percent from a year ago. Ground beef and pork? Those prices are up, too.
It’s all leading to what analysts say will mean more expensive Fourth of July barbecues across the United States. Such was the case of Memorial Day, according to the USDA, the price of a home-cooked cheeseburger is up to over $2.
“Memorial Day weekend kicks off the barbecue season for many Americans, and a grilled burger topped with cheese is a holiday staple,” the USDA said in a statement. “Using price data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, ERS calculated the average national cost of a home-cooked cheeseburger. The cost was found to vary seasonally, usually decreasing in February, May, and June while reaching annual peaks in November or December. Most of the seasonal variation is due to the changes in beef prices. The April 2013 cost of $2.07 for a home-prepared cheeseburger is up 61 percent since 2000, while overall food-at-home prices have increased 41 percent in that time.”Sales show that consumers are gravitating more and more to items like pork, which carry a lesser price tag than chicken and red meat.
“We are definitely seeing consumers buying more poultry,” Richard Vope, an economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture told MSN moneyNOW. “Meat supplies remain tight, moreso for ground beef.”
The MSN report stated that not even vegetarians are out of the woods when it comes to spending more during the summer months.
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