The price of food has risen faster than most other goods, largely as a result of greed
Boneless chicken prices rose at double the rate of general inflation, while potato prices rose by 60%
Tyson Foods, Smithfield and other big agribusinesses posted record profits and were accused of illegal price fixing
Read Casey’s report “Lining Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Make Your Holiday Meals More Expensive” HERE
Casey also sent a letter to the FTC and USDA urging them to investigate possible unfair pricing practices by major chicken and pork processors
Washington – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children and Families, released a new report on greed inflation titled “Lining Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Make Your Holiday Meals More Expensive.” The report examines how the agribusiness companies that process Americans’ food have raised prices for everyday staples and raises questions about why these price increases are necessary. As the holiday season approaches, the report looks at how the price of food has risen faster than most other goods, straining family budgets and taking a bite out of holiday celebrations. Prices of many holiday staples, including chicken, pork and potatoes, are rising faster than general inflation, earning companies billions and costing consumers. Some of these companies have a history of engaging in price fixing, conspiring to raise prices, anticompetitive behavior, and advertising their ability to raise prices without limits.
“As Pennsylvania families prepare for the holidays, they’re seeing higher prices on everything from chicken to pork to potatoes.” Senator Casey said. “These higher prices are the result of greed inflation – big food and agriculture businesses gobbling up the wages of Pennsylvanians simply because they can. I’m taking steps to fight back so we can make corporations pay their fair share and put more money in the pockets of working families.
While inflation has put a strain on family budgets in recent years, data show that it has slowed recently. Despite this decline, consumers still feel squeezed because many corporations continue to raise prices for consumers – not to compensate for inflation, but to increase their own profits. This practice, known as greedflation, is costing American consumers more than ever. Senator Casey’s previous report on greed inflation found that corporate profits accounted for all of inflation in the first year of the pandemic recovery (roughly July 2020 to July 2021) and 41 percent of inflation overall in the first two years of the post-recovery the pandemic (July 2020 to July 2022). Today’s report takes an in-depth look at the disproportionate glut hitting prices of holiday staples. Read the full report at “Line their Pockets: How Big Food and Farm Businesses Are Making Your Holiday Meals More Expensive,” here.
In the report, Senator Casey outlines his strategy to fight inflation, which includes tougher enforcement of existing consumer protection laws. Casey today sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Agriculture asking the agencies to use all necessary resources to investigate possible unfair pricing practices by major chicken and pork processors in the United States. Read Senator Casey’s letter here.
In the letter, Senator Casey wrote, “Families in Pennsylvania and across the country deserve to know whether these high prices are the result of genuine economic pressures on the industry or artificial actions taken to enrich those at the top.” Inflation is real, and we owe it to working families to ensure that we take every possible action to prevent bad actors from making it worse for their own gain.
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