Inflation has been hammering the ag sector and consumers are feeling the pinch, too. New data shows food spending hit record highs last year.
Since 1997, overall food spending went up 70 percent. During the same time, spending on food at home went up 53 percent. Food at places, like restaurants, went up 89 percent. In 2021, total food spending went up more than 7 percent, and last year, it went up 4.5 percent.
The American Farm Bureau says this data shows a big change in consumer food spending habits. In 1999, grocery stores made up 72 percent of all at-home purchases.
