Veggies (photo by Michelle Kwajafa, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Sharply rising food prices have been stretching family budgets for more than a year, but at least the rate at which they've been increasing is expected to slow a bit.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that falling prices for corn, wheat and soybeans, as well as the fuel needed to get food to market, have already occurred. Still, it takes time, perhaps six months, before consumers see price differences at their local stores.

Though sticker shock at the high cost of food staples should lessen in the coming year, the Tribune notes that “…long-term trends that have been pushing food prices higher—growing global demand and an increasing flow of grains to fuel production —may hibernate a bit as the world's economy slows. But don't expect them to go away.”

If you’d like to read the Chicago Tribune article cited above go to: Grocery inflation likely to ease in 2009