Behind The Sound Bite: Food Prices
At a recent conference, officials from the MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC), which studies economic trends in a dozen communities along Route 9, said orange juice has experienced the largest price increase, 245 percent, out of a sample of items the organization tracks annually. In 1991 a container of OJ cost $0.91, now it’s a whopping $3.14, MERC found. In this edition of Behind the Sound Bite, we decided to look into the numbers and what’s driving the increase.
How is cost-of-living data compiled?
MERC annually calculates the cost of living in MetroWest by examining the average price of 57 items from more than 100 businesses across the region. The items are then broken into six categories: grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.
What are the most expensive items in MetroWest?
According to MERC, OJ is the item with the single largest percent increase since 1991. On average, grocery items increased in price by 68 percent since 1991, which was outpaced only by health care, which is up 92 percent since 1991 and transportation costs, which are up 78 percent. Other grocery items with price hikes include potatoes, which rose 117 percent in price, and sugar, which rose 69 percent. Meanwhile, residents in MetroWest can still get deals on sausage and tuna; each only rose 20 percent in price.
Why is OJ so expensive?
Dean Frutiger, who runs the cost of living index for the Arlington, Va.-based Council for Community and Economic Research, cautions against reading too much into MERC’s assessment. Produce is subject to external factors, such as droughts, which can make prices volatile, he said. While OJ might have been expensive in 2010 when compared to 1991, it could have been much cheaper when compared to another year. In the past 40 years, food prices have experienced seasonal peaks and troughs. Meanwhile, other categories, such as health care and transportation, have seen steady increases.
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