Older Americans on fixed incomes are swapping fresh produce and lean protein for cheaper, shelf-stable substitutes as grocery prices climb and, in some cases, forgoing medication, according to reporting from the Midwest Newsroom and Harvest Public Media.
Food prices rose 3 percent between June 2025 and June 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is a modest figure by recent standards, well below the nearly 10 percent spike in 2022, the largest annual increase in more than four decades. It lands differently on someone whose income does not move.
