At the very start of last year, USDA economists were forecasting grocery store food prices for 2020 would rise only a half percent, maybe 1.5%, but then came COVID -19.
Prices ended up climbing 3.5 percent, the biggest increase in almost a decade.
USDA economist Carolyn Chelius has made her early year food price inflation forecast for 2021, saying grocery store food prices will rise one to possibly two percent. But Carolyn also reminds us "there's a lot of uncertainty around that."
"First, we've just begun 2021 and secondly we've still got the pandemic going and the uncertainties about that which could impact food prices." The rate of vaccination, the continued rate of cases, the economy and factors like unemployment, wages, consumption patterns." Plus, nobody knows how the weather will affect food production this year. She said, "which makes it very difficult to forecast food prices in 2021."
