U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children & Families, released a new report on Thursday addressing what he describes as an issue of ‘greedflation’ within the food and agriculture industries. The report, entitled “Stuffing Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Businesses Are Making Your Holiday Meals More Expensive,” highlights the rising prices of everyday staple foods and questions the necessity of these price hikes.
As the holiday season approaches, this report draws attention to the increased cost of food, which has risen more rapidly than most other goods. This surge in prices is placing pressure on family budgets and impacting holiday celebrations. Staple items for holiday meals, such as chicken, pork, and potatoes, are experiencing inflation rates higher than the national average, leading to increased profits for companies at the expense of consumers.
Senator Casey states, “These higher prices are the result of greedflation—big food and agriculture businesses are gobbling up Pennsylvanians’ paychecks simply because they can.”
Despite recent moderation in inflation, families continue to feel the strain as corporations persist in raising prices to increase their profits, a practice referred to as ‘greedflation.’ Senator Casey’s previous report on greedflation revealed that corporate profits accounted for all the inflation in the first year of the pandemic recovery and 41 percent of inflation overall in the first two years of the post-pandemic recovery.
In his latest report, Senator Casey delves into the perceived disproportionate impact of greedflation on the prices of holiday food staples. He outlines his strategy for combating inflation, which includes stringent enforcement of existing consumer protection laws. The Senator also sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Agriculture, urging them to investigate possible unfair pricing practices by major chicken and pork processors in the United States.
“Families in Pennsylvania and across the Nation deserve to know whether these high prices are the result of genuine economic pressures on the industry, or whether they are artificial actions taken to enrich those at the top,” Senator Casey wrote in his letter.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and MSN.