Ronda Schloemann loves cereal, specifically, Chocolate Frosted Flakes.
“I’m always buying cereal,” Schloemann said in the parking lot of a shopping center in New Haven, “and at CTown, especially, every box of cereal has gone up at least $1.”
Schloemann says she’s buying less cereal now because of those rising prices. She relies on food stamps, so her budget remains the same even as prices go up.
Food prices increased 0.9% in January, according to the latest inflation data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, with cereal and bakery prices rising the most among food groups in that month. Prices climbed 7.5% in all categories over the past year, according to the BLS, putting inflation at its highest rate in nearly 40 years.
While prices are up across the board, inflation impacts lower-income people the most, says Gillian Brunet, assistant professor of economics at Wesleyan University.
“Food is a larger share of a low-income family’s budget to begin with than a higher-income family,” Brunet said. “[For] wealthier households, it’s easier to just absorb [inflation] and not have to change what you buy as much, whereas in lower-income households, you’re probably looking for the best deals you can get anyway. You’re more likely to have to cut something.”
Brunet says this is the immediate impact of inflation, but it also comes with long-term impacts. “Lower-income households spend much closer to 100% of their paychecks compared to higher-income households,” she said, which means lower-income households aren’t able to save as much in the long run.
In the parking lot at a Whole Foods in Milford, Ralph Mocciola was putting his groceries in his car. He says he’s noticed the rising cost of food, but it hasn’t changed his buying habits too much.
“Nutrition is too valuable to me and my family, so I don’t really compromise there,” Mocciola said. He says he’s been eating less meat lately, which increased the most in price among food groups last year, but he noted he made the change for health reasons, not financial ones.
Time also plays into the impact of inflation, says Brunet. “To the extent that people have time to shop around, they can mitigate some parts of inflation for themselves,” she said.
In Ronda Schloemann’s case, there’s a Rite Aid next to her CTown that she says has good sales on cereal. Last week, Rite Aid was selling the same size box of Chocolate Frosted Flakes for 30 cents less than CTown. And if Schloemann is willing to make a flavor adjustment, a box of regular Frosted Flakes is selling two for $5.
