Average Food Prices: A Snapshot of How Much Has Changed Over a Century

Jonathan Church and Ken Stewart, Bureau of Labor Statistics Beyond the Numbers, March 7, 2013

In January 1913, when the U.S. Department of Labor was formed, the buffalo nickel would soon replace the Liberty Head nickel, women were protesting for the right to vote, and a family could buy a pound of potatoes for less than two cents. Fast forward 100 years to January 2013, when the U.S. Department of Labor is a century old, credit cards and online purchases are the more common forms of payment than the cash purchases of 1913, a record number of women are elected to Congress, and a pound of potatoes now costs 62 cents. These historic comparisons show how much has changed in the United States, and food prices have changed as well. To examine prices over time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has Consumer Price Index (CPI) data going back to January 1913 and a few average prices going back to at least that far. This article summarizes some average food prices over the last century.

Report - More than One in Six Americans Report Inability to Afford Enough Food

Report - More than One in Six Americans Report Inability to Afford Enough Food, February 28, 2013

News release: "Millions of Americans continued in 2012 to struggle to afford enough food, according to new, up-to-date food hardship data from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). More than one in six Americans (18.2 percent) said in 2012 that there had been times over the past 12 months that they didn't have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed. FRAC's food hardship report – Food Hardship in America 2012 – analyzes data that were collected by Gallup and provided to FRAC. The data were gathered as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project, which has been interviewing almost 1,000 households daily since January 2008. FRAC has analyzed responses to the question: "Have there been times in the past twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?" The report contains data throughout 2012 for every state, region, congressional district, and 100 of the country's largest metropolitan areas (MSA)."