Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress released a major new plan to tackle rising grocery costs and strengthen the nation’s food system, offering policymakers a comprehensive strategy to deliver near-term relief to families while preventing future price spikes. CAP’s new report, “Stopping Sticker Shock at the Grocery Store: A Plan To Make Food More Affordable,” outlines a three-part agenda to keep food price growth in check, crack down on anticompetitive practices, and modernize U.S. agricultural policy to build a more resilient supply chain.
The plan comes as grocery prices remain roughly 30 percent higher than they were in January 2020, with the typical family of four now spending more than $1,000 per month on groceries. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have pushed up prices for key imports—including coffee, tea, and cocoa; fish and seafood; fruits; and meat—relative to pre-tariff trends.
New CAP polling finds that 76 percent of Americans say groceries are a major cost pressure—greater than utilities, health care, or housing. And nearly 4 in 5 Americans say food prices are higher than they were a year ago, with half saying prices are much higher.
CAP’s plan centers on three pillars:
- Provide immediate relief through a negotiated, temporary price cap on a core basket of essential grocery items—the “Go-To Grocery List”—to allow wages to catch up with elevated food prices.
- Increase competition and protect consumers and producers by cracking down on price discrimination, surveillance pricing, restrictive land covenants, and alleged price-fixing in highly concentrated food sectors.
- Modernize U.S. farm and food policy to strengthen supply chains, support farmers, and reduce vulnerability to future shocks driven by climate change, disease outbreaks, and global disruptions.
The report finds that holding prices flat on a core basket of goods for two years could save families an estimated $134 per year on average, based on CAP modeling. Taken together, the CAP agenda is designed to lower costs now, increase competition over time, and build a more resilient food system for the future.
“After the pandemic price shock, too many families are still feeling squeezed every time they check out at the grocery store,” said Jared Bernstein, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, senior fellow at CAP, and co-author of the report. “This plan is designed to provide practical, near-term relief while also addressing the longer-term problems in our food system that make groceries less affordable to working families.”
“President Trump’s tariffs and chaotic policies are raising costs for families. Americans understand this reality because they are living it every single day,” said Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress. “Leaders should be focused on delivering real relief at the checkout line. This agenda takes families’ challenges seriously with a detailed plan to provide affordable groceries by stabilizing prices, taking on excessive market power, and supporting farmers and increased innovation in agriculture.”
Read the report: “Stopping Sticker Shock at the Grocery Store: A Plan To Make Food More Affordable” by Jared Bernstein, Michael Negron, Kyle Ross, Lily Roberts, and Emily Gee
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].