Hoosiers can expect to pay more for groceries ahead of Fourth of July

Hoosiers will see increased grocery prices ahead of the Fourth of July this year. According to the Indiana Farm Bureau, holiday groceries will be 8 percent more expensive than last year.

Hoosiers are paying an average of $69.47 for a cookout feeding 10 people this summer – or $6.95 per person.

Indiana’s market basket price is approximately 3 percent, or 18 cents, more than the U.S. average of $6.77 per person. It’s also nearly 5 percent higher than the average price for the Midwest – which is $6.61 per person.

The measure is based on a market basket of popular food items: ground beef, cheese, hamburger buns, pork chops, chicken breasts, pork and beans, potato salad, strawberries, chips, ice cream, cookies and lemonade.

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All of the groceries in the market basket were more expensive in Indiana than last year, except cheese and pork chops. Chocolate chip cookies, chicken breasts and chips were significantly above the U.S. average. Items such as ice cream, strawberries, pork and beans, hamburger buns, lemonade and potato salad were less than the U.S. average.

The Indiana Farm Bureau said there have been higher input prices for farmers growing food. Droughts in the Midwest have also increased feeding costs for livestock – leading to increases in meat costs.

After accounting for input costs, only 14 cents of every retail food dollar can be attributed to farm production, according to the USDA. The rest involves food processing, packaging, transportation, wholesale and retail distribution, and food service preparation.

Violet is our daily news reporter. Contact her at vcomberwilen@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @ComberWilen.