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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Madeleine Aggeler

‘I pay a lot more for fewer and fewer items’: five US shoppers on their food budgets

Shopping basket filled with groceries against background of rising price indicators and dollar symbols, representing inflation.
More than half of Americans say they’re struggling to afford groceries. Illustration: master1305/Getty Images

While campaigning for re-election in 2024, Donald Trump stood in front of a table full of groceries – bags of flour, cartons of eggs, cooking oil – and told voters he would bring down the price of groceries “starting on day one” of his second term in the White House.

Over two years later, US consumers have yet to enjoy lower prices. In fact, due to supply chain issues, jostling over tariffs, wars in Ukraine and Iran, severe cuts in Snap (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, and the climate crisis, more than half of Americans say they’re struggling to afford groceries.

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