[Edaily Reporter Bang Sung Hoon ] Antoinette Morea (31), a high school teacher living alone in Queens, New York, used to spend about $600 (approximately 800,000 won) a month on groceries, but she has now cut that amount to between a quarter and half of what she used to spend. This is because eating out has become a financial burden. She does most of her grocery shopping at discount stores and uses frozen vegetables, which are inexpensive and have a long shelf life. She prepares lunch in bulk and stores the packed lunches in her freezer. With an annual income of about $106,000 (approximately 142.31 million won), she belongs to the so-called middle class. While she may appear to be well-off at first glance, she has been tightening her belt for the past two years as her credit card debt piled up due to excessive spending.

Even though the average annual income for U.S. households is approaching 140 million won, even the middle class is cutting back on food expenses. This is because the cost of groceries continues to rise, making it increasingly difficult to afford.

◇ Households Skipping Meals Up 2.5-Fold… Prices Stuck Due to Tariffs and Iranian Attacks
According to a report by the Asahi Shimbun on the 14th, citing surveys by the Associated Press and others, 62% of Americans said they have cut back on dining out. Forty-one percent said they are “very” or “extremely” worried about whether they will be able to afford groceries in the coming months. This is due to the sharp rise in food prices. The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food, including dining out, had surged by as much as 30% as of August this year compared to six years ago. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average annual income for U.S. households was $104,207 (approximately 139.9 million won).

The burden of food costs is also confirmed by other statistics. According to a February survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the percentage of households that reported “not having enough to eat or having their children skip meals” stood at 10%, a 2.5-fold increase compared to June 2020 (4%). The percentage of households that received food donations also rose from 10.6% to 15.8% during the same period.

While the United States is an agricultural powerhouse and offers some inexpensive food items, prices in urban areas are generally on an upward trend. Looking at retail prices at major supermarkets earlier this month, a half-gallon (1.89 liters) of milk in the Washington, D.C., area cost $2.89 (approximately 3,880 won), and a pound (453 grams) of pork tenderloin cost $6.99 (approximately 9,384 won). In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the prices were $1.92 (about 2,578 won) and $3.77 (about 5,061 won), respectively.

Food prices are slow to fall due to a series of supply-side shocks. Labor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions caused the overall CPI inflation rate for 2022 to surge to as high as 9% year-over-year at one point. Since then, oil prices have spiked again due to President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and U.S. strikes against Iran, keeping the inflation rate in the 3% range even now.

Consumption, on the other hand, remains robust, driven by high-income earners who have benefited from rising stock prices. With the overall economy performing well, there are no signs that inflation will subside anytime soon. In 2024, the total annual expenditure of U.S. households was $78,535 (approximately 105.43 million won). By major category, housing costs (33.4%) and transportation costs (17.0%) were followed by food expenses (12.9%) as the largest expenditures.

◇“Affordable Prices” as a Midterm Election Issue… The Public Supermarket Experiment
Alleviating the burden of living expenses is also the top issue in the midterm elections on the 3rd of next month. In a July survey by the Pew Research Center, 29% of respondents—the highest percentage—cited “the economy,” which includes “living expenses and affordability,” as their top concern. As the term “affordability” has frequently appeared in the media over the past year, policies aimed at achieving it are gaining support.

A supermarket in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, is the city’s first public-private partnership store. It celebrated its first anniversary last September. According to the city, one in seven Atlanta residents experiences food insecurity. Since there were no supermarkets in the area, residents had to travel long distances to shop for groceries. In response, the city and the Atlanta Development Authority provided grants and low-interest loans to ease the burden of opening and operating the store. A second location is scheduled to open in the suburbs later this year.

University professor Jessica Scott (44) said, “Both groceries and gasoline have gone up so much,” adding, “Initiatives like this need to spread further.” Paul Nile, CEO of the store’s operating company, said, “Usually, the measure of success in business is how much profit you make, but for this store, the measure is ‘how happy the citizens are.’”

The Atlanta model is drawing attention because a similar initiative is being pursued in New York City, the nation’s largest city. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani surprised the nation last fall when he was elected from relative obscurity by campaigning on a platform of “affordable prices.” His campaign promise of “publicly operated supermarkets” is currently in the works, with five locations set to open. The plan is to sell some fresh foods at a 30% discount.