It’s not just pain at the pump that will be hurting the pocketbook

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - As we continue to see gas prices to rise, we may start to see the tab at the grocery store start to rise as well.

BYU-Idaho economics professor David Barrus says he's seeing an upward trend in more than just the price of gas.

Barrus says food prices have been rising during the past year. He says the biggest rise has been seen in the meat industry with, prices in for meat rising 13% in the past year. Barrus says there's a couple different reasons as to why this price hike is going on.

"A lot of things got stuck at the ports and weren't able to get out," Barrus said. "So we had a backup which increased prices of shipping and other things. And so we kind of have these two events, a lot more demand and some supply issues caused by COVID that have really increased the prices of goods."

Food prices rose 1% last month, the largest monthly increase since April 2020. During the past 12 months, food prices rose nearly 8%, the biggest jump since July of 1981. Barrus believes as prices continue to rise, it will cause more than just food to go up.

"And so what I've seen is a lot of people are starting to do less because they're like it cost me $100 more dollars to to shop at the grocery store now than it did a year ago. And so then you cut back in other areas," Barrus said.

Teri Hillman was spending the day with her granddaughter. She tells me she does what she can to prepare for the price hikes ahead.

"I find myself making a list, and maybe adding one or two extra things that I need just to have on hand," Hillman said. "I know it's not going to stop the price raise, but at least I will have a couple of things that I know I can have on hand."

Barrus says we might continue to see prices at the pump and in the store continue to rise for a while but things should calm down in time.