The food behaviors of food-secure and -insecure households differ relatively little on many common shopping choices. Vegetables and fruits are the most popular organic items, but less than a third of consumers often or always choose organic.Total food spending is up 7% from this time last year, while consumers similarly estimate annual food inflation to be about 7%.Even so, Lusk said, “It seems that consumers have some degree of elevated inflation baked into their expectations with their 4.3% estimation of future inflation.”Īdditional key results include the following: Lacking pre-January 2022 survey data, the Purdue researchers are unable to compare current responses to times of low inflation. “But if food away from home spending does not increase in our data, especially as food away from home inflation continues to pick up according to official measures, then we might have some questions.” “If people go out and spend more at bars and restaurants, as one would expect, then we could say that consumers are feeling fairly confident,” Lusk said. Data from this summer’s reports will provide a helpful picture of how consumers are doing. In the food spending category, the slow easing of food inflation continues. “Plus, nearly 60% of consumers say that they live within 10 minutes of a dollar store, which has potential for capitalizing on access issues,” Lusk said. While only a small percentage of consumers shop for groceries at dollar stores, there could be a market for an expanded food selection since 50% of those surveyed reported that a full-service grocery would be a draw. If consumers do pick up more food at a dollar store, it makes sense that people typically buy canned or frozen foods since these are the easiest options for dollar stores to stock.”

“When it comes to food, many of these purchases are snack items. “More than half of Americans have recently shopped at a dollar store,” said Jayson Lusk, the head and Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue, who leads the center.

A Question of Ghosts by Cate Culpepper