{"id":2908,"date":"2026-06-27T09:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2908"},"modified":"2026-06-27T09:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:35:31","slug":"farm-bureau-july-fourth-cookouts-are-cheapest-in-10-years-after-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2908","title":{"rendered":"Farm Bureau: July Fourth cookouts are cheapest in 10 years after inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An annual survey finds the cost of an Independence Day cookout has risen to a 10-year high of $7.38 per person, but remains the cheapest in this period after adjusting for inflation.<\/p>\n

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The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that feeding 10 people meat and potatoes on America\u2019s 250th birthday will cost $73.82, up 4% or $2.90 from last year before inflation. That\u2019s just below the 4.2% inflation rate for the 12 months ended in May, including a 3.1% rise in food prices.<\/p>\n

The farmers\u2019 advocacy group found that unadjusted prices rose between 1.7% and 13.8% from last year for cheese, lemonade, strawberries, ground beef, hamburger buns, pork chops, chicken breasts, ice cream, homemade potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, and pork and beans.<\/p>\n

On the positive side, unadjusted prices dipped by 0.8% to $4.76 for the average 16-ounce bag of potato chips. They also plunged 17.8% to $2.91 for the average 2 1\/2-pound tub of homemade potato salad.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers are dealing with natural disasters and higher supply costs while making the same \u2014 or sometimes less \u2014 money for the food they grow,\u201d said Zippy Duvall, the organization\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

However, the Farm Bureau noted that the cookout adjusted for inflation will cost $22.03 in real dollars. That\u2019s down from 2022, when record-high inflation jacked up expenses to $23.84, the highest since the bureau first surveyed the issue in 2016.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the cheapest a July Fourth cookout for 10 people has been in the survey period, besting the previous inflation-adjusted low of $22.06 set last year.<\/p>\n

Farm Bureau economist Faith Parum said these numbers show how the purchasing power of the dollar \u201chas remained relatively stable when it comes to food,\u201d even as grocery prices rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s families spend less of their disposable income on food than most other nations, and we enjoy one of the most abundant, affordable and safe food supplies in the world,\u201d Ms. Parum said.<\/p>\n

Several economists not involved in the survey echoed her sentiments in interviews with The Washington Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasured against everything else a dollar buys, it\u2019s one of the cheapest [cookouts] in years, because grocery prices for once rose a hair slower than the cost of living,\u201d said Siri Terjesen, an associate business school dean at Florida Atlantic University. \u201cThe 2022 reading was the high-water mark of post-pandemic food inflation, and the real cost has drifted down since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Austin, a former economic adviser to two Republican governors in Kansas, noted that a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of pandemic-era price shocks hit Independence Day cookouts in 2022.<\/p>\n

He cited war, avian flu, energy shocks and supply-chain breakdowns as factors driving up food prices when annualized inflation hit 9.1% in June 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lesson is not that food is cheap,\u201d said Mr. Austin, an economist at the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research\u2019s Project 21. \u201cIt is that abundance still works. America\u2019s food system has taken repeated blows and kept feeding the country better than almost anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other experts warn against concluding that Fourth of July food costs will burden families less than last year.<\/p>\n

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Some cite Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that average hourly wages rose by 3.3% from May 2025 to May 2026, less than the 4% rise in cookout prices the bureau tracked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were to deflate by wages, we would see that the cost of the cookout has increased somewhat, almost certainly driven by the recent strong inflation we have seen for meats and vegetables,\u201d said Ricky Volpe, an agricultural economist at California Polytechnic State University.<\/p>\n

Angelica Gianchandani, a New York University marketing instructor, stressed that Americans rarely calculate real-dollar savings at the cash register.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople walk into the store for a few basics and leave surprised by the total,\u201d Ms. Gianchandani said. \u201cThe psychological impact of inflation often lingers longer than the economic data.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House countered that President Trump\u2019s \u201csupply-side policies\u201d have limited price increases for beef, poultry, egg and dairy products the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith wages continuing to grow, Americans are set to see more economic relief in the months ahead,\u201d White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Times on Friday.<\/p>\n

Ups and downs<\/h3>\n

The Farm Bureau blamed \u201cyears of severe drought\u201d for trimming cattle herds and driving up the retail price for two pounds of ground beef, which rose 5.5% from last year to $14.06.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will take several years for herds to recover to pre-drought levels,\u201d the group noted in a summary.<\/p>\n

The bureau also flagged high labor costs for picking fruits and vegetables, plus high fuel costs for transporting and refrigerating food.<\/p>\n

On the sunnier side, it noted that egg prices have dropped as flocks of hens recover from avian influenza, lowering the cost of making potato salad. The bureau also credited \u201chealthy potato harvests\u201d for chip prices falling 5 cents from last year to $4.76.<\/p>\n

Farm Bureau members and volunteers collect price data from stores in every state and Puerto Rico to construct the annual cost estimate for Independence Day food.<\/p>\n

Peter Earle, senior director of research at the free-market American Institute for Economic Research, urged consumers not to overreact to the higher cost of certain food this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers naturally focus on sticker prices at the grocery store, but a more meaningful measure is how much of household income is required to purchase food,\u201d Mr. Earle said. \u201cBy that standard, the United States continues to enjoy one of the most affordable and abundant food supplies in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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