MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Many across the Mid-South are continuing to deal with the impact of inflation at the grocery store. In some instances, folks are having to sacrifice just to be able to afford a meal.
At grocery stores all across the country, customers are dealing with sticker shock, frustration and anxiety.
These emotions come as shoppers are now spending more than they expected.
To put things into perspective, last month, the price of food at home was up more than 10 percent compared to last year. Bacon is up almost 18 percent, and eggs are up 23 percent.
These are statistics that shoppers like Robert Thompson have been closely monitoring.
“It’s definitely putting people in a really bad bind, and you don’t want crime to rise. People will do a lot to survive by any means, and you don’t want that to impact our community in a negative way,” Thompson said.
Last week, President Biden said the two biggest causes of inflation is the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“I know that families all across America are hurt because of inflation,” President Biden said.
He said his administration has tried to pass several proposals to address the issue, but they have not passed in Congress.
“What’s the congressional Republicans plan?” Biden said. “They don’t want to solve inflation by lowering your costs. They want to solve it by raising your taxes and lowering your income.”
Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming had a different take.
“President Biden’s mismanagement of the economy and inflation has really trapped Americans in an inflation nightmare,” Sen. Barrasso said.
As for Memphians, shoppers said at the end of the day all they care about is not having to break the bank for groceries.
If there is some good news, it’s that inflation slowed down in April after seven months of relentless gains.
