U.S. Currency (photo by Dawn M. Turner, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Most American families are probably well aware that food prices have been rising. A report in The Toledo Blade confirms what they’ve been experiencing on the checkout line: food prices increased by 5.4% between November 2006 and November 2007, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Some staples of the American diet have seen very steep increases since 2000, according to the article. The price of a dozen eggs has gone from 97 cents in 2000, to $2.49. The cost of a gallon of milk has risen from $2.78 in January of 2000 to about $3.95 today, and the price of a fresh whole chicken has climbed from $1.05 to $1.49 a pound during that time. A rise in the cost of imported produce is largely attributed to the decline in the value of the dollar. Produce rose 1.7% in just one month, the largest increase in 14 years.

The Toledo Blade article quotes J. DiNuzzo, president of DiNuzzo Investment Advisors Inc., as saying, "The weaker currency is having an effect all across the board, all the way to food prices."

Sharply rising demand for biofuels and record-setting oil prices are also blamed as culprits making food more expensive. In Mexico, citizens have taken to the streets in protest of rising corn prices as that diet staple has been diverted from food to biofuel production.

The article indicates that food prices will continue to rise as the dollar grows weaker.

If you’d like to read The Toledo Blade article cited above go to: Food prices increase by 5.4%