Farmers are growing less crops such as lettuce and a few other produce in a desperate attempt to avoid excess inventory due to the uncertain times the pandemic has created. Romaine lettuce has become the biggest recorded price increase of any food item after it rocketed a staggering 61% from a year earlier to $3.27 a pound.
Inflation has jumped a whopping 7% from December which makes it the highest in the past 4 decades according to data released by the Department of Labor.
This has drastically increased the cost of many favorite items, such as, a dozen eggs have gone from $1.48 a year ago to $1.79. In only a year, sliced bacon went from $5.83 to a heartbreaking $7.21. Most fruits have also increased more than 7.9% in the past year alone.
Apart from food items dramatically increasing in cost in 2021, new and used cars, tobacco products and gas have also shot up. Labor shortage, logistical mishaps, fertilizer doubling in costs, shortage in truck drivers, gas prices and other factors have put a strain on the agriculture sector.
