Sticker shock at the grocery store should be slowing down, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But with grocery prices still up 28% since 2019, presidential candidates former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making high food costs a campaign issue.
“[The Biden administration] had the highest inflation,” Trump said during the debate on Tuesday. “It’s the worst period, people can’t go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else.”
Later in the debate, Harris also brought up food costs.
“It is important that we move forward, that we turn the page on this same old, tired rhetoric,” Harris said. “We need to address the needs of the American people; address bringing down the price of groceries.”
Pocketbook issues are extremely important and motivating for voters, according to Donna Hoffman, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa.
“If their pocketbook is being hit by high gas prices or high food prices, those are certainly things that can work their way into the things the presidential campaigns want to address,” she said. “Above everything else, candidates want to convey to voters that they’re empathetic and they understand the concerns of the average American.”
More than 80% of registered voters told Pew Research that the economy will be very important to their vote in the 2024 presidential election.
That’s despite inflation leveling off. The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed overall inflation fell in August to its lowest level since February 2021.
Maria Kalaitzandonakes said the relief is not necessarily translating to happy shoppers. She’s a professor in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.
“When economists think about inflation, we think about the rate of increases in prices,” she said. “But when consumers think about inflation, it’s more like ‘In 2019 I could buy all my groceries for less than $100 and now when I go to the grocery store I’m getting sticker shock.’ It’s not the same concept.”
Ability to address food prices
Kalaitzandonakes’ research found that most consumers do believe political parties can help lower food prices. Along with a team, she asked consumers “Which political party, if any, do you think can help to lower food prices in grocery stores?” in an online survey.
A majority of respondents thought their political party could address high food prices. Among the findings:
• 74.2% of Republicans thought only Republicans could help push down food prices.
• 61.8% of Democrats thought only Democrats could lower grocery costs.
