The Democrats official X account posted a chart featuring US grocery inflation. The intent was to show the public that prices had reached record highs in 2025 under the Trump Administration; however, the graphic actually revealed the culprit for the rise in food prices.
Grocery prices skyrocketed in 2021, a year into the pandemic. Supply chain shortages were abundant, shipping docks were at a standstill, and countless food producers were forced to shutter their businesses to adhere to social distancing guidelines. World trade temporarily halted. We then had the Ukraine war breakout in 2022, disrupting Europe’s bread basket. Poor weather conditions resulted in low harvests, and a series of diseases spread to livestock and poultry. Every nation experienced a rise in food prices following the disastrous policies set forth in 2020, with most feeling the inflationary shocks starting in 2021.
Food-at-home groceries rose 24% from January 2020 to January 2023. Grocery prices surged 25.8% by March 2024 and did not experience a downturn until April 2024 when prices dropped a mere -0.2% on the monthly. Grocery prices rose 22% to 25% under Biden’s presidency. “Prices are higher today than they were in July 2024, all in major categories listed below,” read the caption on the since-deleted graphic posted by the Democrat’s X account. If anyone cared to look, they would have seen that prices have fallen relatively flat under Trump, whereas they were skyrocketing under Biden.
I’ve discussed why food prices are rising and have broken it down by product. Now, I do not completely blame the Biden Administration for the drastic uptick in groceries as the entire world shuttered under COVID, which began under Trump. However, Biden implemented a series of failed policies that directly contributed to higher inflation. Inflation overall is certainly much tamer than it was a few years ago. Prices have never fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, and the prices we see are more or less the new norm. The careless X post by the Democrats illustrates why you cannot look at an isolated micro area, be it eggs or ground beef, and blame it for a macro trend.
