SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — From your cup of coffee, to your dinner tonight, more than likely you will notice prices are much higher, especially for food at grocery stores.
In fact, prices have risen 6.5% over the past year, and experts believe food could soon get even more expensive.
And unfortunately, with inflation it has caused prices at the grocery store to spike and stay that way for months.
"Every day life is going to cost more," said Alan Gin, an Associate Professor of Economics at University of San Diego. "Our forecast here at USD is 3.5%. I think the forecast at 5-6 is a little high and even 3.5% is above the target made by the federal reserve,"
He says one of the biggest reasons for inflation was the supply chain turmoil, but that will ease this year.
"I think there will be some improvements in the supply chain which will improve in the moderate price increases there won't be as many shortages," said Gin.
But you're probably wondering, why are meat prices so high? A big reason for that was higher feed prices because of a deep freeze for cattle farmers in the Midwest.
"Animals sent to slaughter was about 15 pounds less than last year, 15 pounds doesn't sound much but if you add that up, that's a lot of meat," said Gin.
The foods that saw the highest price jumps were meat and fish at 12.5%, non-alcoholic beverages at 5.2%, and fruits and veggies at 5%.
And that's something consumers have definitely been feeling at the cash register.
Gin says it's too early to tell what will happen this year, but if we can avoid lockdowns and major weather events, that could help ease the pain for consumers.
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