July 4 Cookout Cost At Record High Due To Biden Inflation

Americans hosting Fourth of July cookouts will face record grocery prices due to rampant inflation under the Biden administration.

A new report from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) found that a 10-person cookout that includes items like cheeseburgers, chicken breasts, pork chops, homemade potato salad, strawberries, and ice cream would run up a $71.22 bill. This marks a five percent increase from last year, an almost 30 percent increase from five years ago, and a record high for the organization’s annual survey.

“Your grocery bill may be a shock, but it is in line with the inflation that has roiled the economy — including the farm economy — over the last several years,” wrote AFBF economists Bernt Nelson and Samantha Ayoub.

Prices of individual goods have increased dramatically nationwide, with some items seeing a “year-to-year double-digit increase.”

The report found that two pounds of ground beef now cost $12.77 on average, an 11 percent increase from last year. One half-gallon of ice cream now costs $5.65, up seven percent from last year. The cost of lemonade has increased by 12 percent, and the costs of porkchops and potato chips have both increased by eight percent.

The AFBF report from 2021, Biden’s first year in office, reveals that the same 10-person meal costs $59.55. The total bill has increased by $11.67 under the administration’s catastrophic inflation.

“Higher prices at the grocery store reflect a number of challenges facing America’s families. Lower availability of some cookout staples and inflation are hitting people in their wallets,” said AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan.

This AFBF report coincides with a recent Gallup poll indicating voter concern over skyrocketing prices. Only 38 percent of voters say they are confident Biden can “do [or] recommend the right thing for the economy.”

“With Americans less optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy than they have been in recent months and concern about inflation persisting, their confidence in President Joe Biden to recommend or do the right thing for the economy is among the lowest Gallup has measured for any president since 2001,” read the report.

Inflation has increased over 19.9 percent in the three-plus years since Biden took office, according to the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Monroe Harless is a summer intern at The Federalist. She is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and political science.