The annual inflation rate has cooled, new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed on Wednesday. And another report from Purdue University released in July says that 85 percent of Americans say they are happy with the foods they eat, despite high food inflation.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So, in our July survey, we focused on two themes.
00:04The first is food happiness.
00:07We directly ask consumers how they feel about the food choices that are in front of them.
00:16And then, the second theme in our July survey was access to and use of farmers' markets.
00:24The key takeaway is that the vast majority of Americans, 85% of respondents in our survey,
00:32tell us they're happy or very happy with their diets, with the food that they eat.
00:38Interestingly, the share of Americans that tell us that they're happy with their food
00:43hasn't really changed much in the two and a half years that we've been collecting this
00:49data.
00:51It remains at about 85%, even through a bout of really high food inflation.
00:59That's not to say that Americans like high food prices or like rapid inflation, but through
01:08that bout of inflation, Americans have remained happy with their diets.
01:15On food prices, food inflation in July was 2.2% on an annual basis.
01:22That's the lowest reading we've seen since we started collecting data in January of 2022,
01:30and Americans have noticed, and they're optimistic.
01:33They continue to tell us that they expect food inflation to be lower in the coming year
01:39than it has been in the past year.
01:41The other issue that we explored is access to and use of farmers' markets.
01:48Summer for many of us in the United States is farmer market season.
01:54And so we ask consumers, one, do they have access, and two, do they shop at those farmers'
01:59markets?
02:0082% of Americans in our survey tell us that they have access to a farmers' market.
02:09Of those, four of five, 80%, tell us they plan to shop for food at a farmers' market.
02:18And while there are some differences across income groups, what we find is that across
02:24the income spectrum, Americans plan to take advantage of the fresh produce, local foods
02:38that are made available to them in our farmers' markets.
02:42Prices of produce at farmers' markets tend to be higher than at the grocery store, but
02:49you still see people choosing to do their shopping at farmers' markets, and I think
02:54that's for a couple of reasons.
02:57One is because of quality.
03:01The tomatoes grown locally are often better tasting, better looking, fresher than the
03:09ones you might find in the grocery store.
03:12And then I think also there's an experience in the farmers' market that you don't get
03:17in the grocery store.
03:19You come together, people from across the community, there's fun for kids and families,
03:25maybe some music, and so it's a bit of a shopping event and not purely utilitarian.
03:31For more UN videos visit www.un.org