Here's how many Americans are cutting their food costs

Summary

Consider This from NPR

Episode: "Here's how many Americans are cutting their food costs"

Date: May 30, 2026
Host: Adrian Florido
Featured Reporter: Joe Hernandez
Guest Contributor: Mary Hudson (Maine Coast Fishermen's Association)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the rising cost of groceries—up nearly 30% since before the pandemic—and explores how regular Americans are adapting. NPR’s Joe Hernandez shares insights from his “What’s Eating America?” series, revealing strategies for saving at the checkout counter and challenges facing both consumers and food producers amid ongoing price hikes. The episode also highlights creative solutions that individuals, businesses, and communities are trying, and previews ongoing coverage of food system realities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Impact of Rising Food Prices

• Grocery prices have risen nearly 30% since before the pandemic (00:00).
• Breadth of struggle: The escalation in costs affects nearly everyone, fueling a collective sense of “we’re all in the same boat.” Many are eager to share stories and tips for making ends meet.
  • Quote: “I think because food prices have gone up...there’s a bit of a we’re all in the same boat feeling.” — Joe Hernandez (03:20)

Coping Strategies for Consumers

• Budget Grocery Stores:
  • Many shoppers have shifted to discount grocers.
    • Quote: “The more we shopped here, the more products we tried, we realized quality-wise, you’re not really sacrificing anything.” — Rich Henderson via Joe Hernandez (00:49)
• Transition to Store Brands & Budgeting:
  • More shoppers buy store brands and are setting strict budgets.
    • Quote: “Going with store brands...to big things like budgeting and setting a budget for your family.” — Joe Hernandez (07:45)
• Pay-What-You-Can Initiatives:
  • Example: An Austin restaurant hosts a “pay what you will” night to welcome back patrons priced out by high dining costs, ensuring accessibility.
    • Story of a diner: “Right now I’m on rental assistance. It’s difficult for me, but I’m able to have access to this restaurant because of this promotion...” — Joe Hernandez (03:20)

Food Producers Face Similar Challenges

• Shared burdens:
  • Farmers, fishers, and small business owners also face steep prices for raw materials, insurance, and overhead, all while grappling with keeping food affordable for others (06:28).
  • Quote: “People who are on the production side of our food system are themselves dealing with these high prices...then they have to go and go shopping themselves.” — Joe Hernandez (06:28)
• Creativity in Food Supply:
  • The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association bought local fish for food banks during the pandemic to support both fishers and food-insecure families.
    • Quote: “We realized also that we were facing these big issues with food insecurity. And it just was the perfect marriage of issues...” — Mary Hudson (01:15)
• Restaurant Dilemmas:
  • Restaurants face tight margins and must choose between raising prices or innovative measures to stay afloat and accessible.
    • Quote: “This restaurant...just felt like this was a moment to say, we want people in our restaurant. We don’t want to price people out...” — Joe Hernandez (04:52)

Reflections from Reporting

• Seeing Both Sides:
  • Consumers and producers alike are squeezed by inflation. The supply chain’s struggles are complex, busting myths about who “sets” prices.
  • Quote: “Hopefully one thing that people take away...is just that, that other side, which can often be a little bit elusive or confusing, like why are food prices going up so high?” — Joe Hernandez (06:28)
• Personal Takeaways:
  • Joe Hernandez notes that reporting has changed his approach to shopping, prompting more mindful, strategic habits (07:45).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The more we shopped here, the more products we tried, we realized quality-wise, you’re not really sacrificing anything.”
  — Rich Henderson (00:49)

• “We realized also that we were facing these big issues with food insecurity. And it just was the perfect marriage of issues...”
  — Mary Hudson, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (01:15)

• “I think because food prices have gone up...there’s a bit of a we’re all in the same boat feeling.”
  — Joe Hernandez (03:20)

• “This restaurant...just felt like this was a moment to say, we want people in our restaurant. We don’t want to price people out...”
  — Joe Hernandez (04:52)

• “People who are on the production side of our food system are themselves dealing with these high prices...”
  — Joe Hernandez (06:28)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00: Episode introduction and overview of grocery price increases
• 00:49: Shopping at budget stores; quality vs. cost (Rich Henderson)
• 01:15: Fishermen’s Association and food insecurity (Mary Hudson)
• 02:54: Beginning of feature interview with Joe Hernandez
• 03:20: Community and restaurant strategies; pay-what-you-will night
• 04:52: Business owners’ perspective; restaurant pricing dilemma
• 06:28: Producers also hit by high prices; Kentucky cattle farmers’ experience
• 07:45: Reporter reflections; new shopping strategies
• 08:55: Preview of upcoming stories (shrinking US cattle herd)

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Where the Series Heads Next

• Upcoming Focus:
  • The US cattle herd is at its lowest levels in decades. Next, Joe investigates the reasons behind shrinking numbers even as beef demand and prices remain high (08:55).
  • Quote: “The next story is about the shrinking domestic US cattle herd...the number of beef and dairy cows is the lowest it’s been in decades...” — Joe Hernandez (08:55)

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Conclusion

This episode skillfully weaves individual stories and big-picture analysis, offering a clear-eyed look at the struggles and strategies surrounding food affordability in the US. Both consumers and producers are adapting in creative, sometimes difficult ways, underlining the complex, interdependent nature of the food system. For ongoing tips and insights, listeners are directed to Joe Hernandez’s newsletter at npr.org (09:51).

Transcript

[Adrian Florido]

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story, almost 30%. That is the amount grocery prices have gone up since before the pandemic.

[Joe Hernandez]

Food costs have been rising for all of us for a number of years now. But, you know, I wanted to sort of talk to people who are dealing with those issues.

[Adrian Florido]

That's NPR reporter Joe Hernandez telling me about his series what's Eating America? His stories explore how people are coping with rising food costs. He's really been trying to understand how

[Joe Hernandez]

they're thinking about it and what kind of strategies or, you know, different approaches they're bringing to eating now that prices have gone up on so many different

[Adrian Florido]

things, things like shopping at budget grocery stores. As Rich Henderson explained to him, the

[Joe Hernandez]

more we shopped here, the more products we tried. We realized quality wise, you're not really sacrificing anything.

[Adrian Florido]

Hernandez has also been spending time with the people producing our food, like Mary Hudson from the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association. When people started buying less fish during the pandemic, her group hatched a plan to buy up locally caught fish and give it away to food banks.

[Mary Hudson]

We were trying to figure out how we could get the boats out fishing, make some money and realized also that we were facing these big issues with food insecurity. And it just was the perfect marriage of issues to try to find some funding for.

[Adrian Florido]

Consider this. Across the country, people have had to make adjustments to their lives as food has gotten more expensive. From npr, I'm Adrian Florido.

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[Adrian Florido]

It's consider this from npr. For several weeks, NPR reporter Joe Hernandez has been bringing our audience stories about how Americans have been adapting to high food prices. For this week's Reporter's Notebook, I wanted to know what it was like to get people to open up about the difficulties they may be facing to put food on the table.

[Gurjeet Kaur]

How hard has it been to get people to talk about their struggles affording food? Not everybody likes to admit that they're. That they're struggling.

[Joe Hernandez]

No. But I think a lot of people like to talk about this and share kind of their stories about it. And I think because food prices have gone up and been going up on so many different things, there's a bit of a we're all in the same boat feeling, I think. And so, you know, people were pretty willing to kind of share their feelings about it. And in some ways, you know, I think they wanted to share their story so other people could hear that, you know, people aren't alone in having to figure out these different ways to deal with rising food prices. And, you know, one, I did a story about a pay what you will night at a restaurant in Austin, Texas, where the owners there wanted to welcome people back in, basically, people who stopped going to restaurants because they got too expensive to. They wanted to let them have a night out there and pay whatever they felt like they could afford. And I talked to one diner there who said, you know, right now I'm on rental assistance. It's difficult for me, but I'm able to have, you know, access to this restaurant because of this promotion. And I hope that as I kind of develop in my career and life in Austin, I'll be able to support these businesses so they can do promotions for people, you know, in the future who are in the shoes that I'm in now.

[Gurjeet Kaur]

That's a story that's not just about people's struggles to afford food and the way they're trying to find more affordable food, but also the other side of

[Adrian Florido]

the coin, which is people who are producing food and wanting to make sure

[Gurjeet Kaur]

that they can stay in business. Say a little bit about that.

[Joe Hernandez]

Yeah, I wanted to kind of capture both sides of that coin, which is the people who are producing our food and serving it and selling it to us, as well as the consumer side. But in many cases, these are small businesses like that restaurant that I mentioned, and the co owners there are dealing with rising costs themselves on everything from the raw ingredients they're buying to insurance. And many restaurants, including this one have raised prices in the past because to maintain the slim margins that they operate on, they would have to raise their prices in order to stay profitable. This restaurant, the owners there, you know, they just felt like this was a moment to say, we want people in our restaurant. We don't want to price people out of it. So once a week we're going to allow people to come in, pay whatever they want, have a good meal, and then leave. And they. You might think that that's not a really great business decision. And I think that they would say they might agree with that, but that's not why they did this. They did this, they say, because they want their restaurant to be accessible, but also they're finding a lot of people are paying what they owe when they come to that night, or paying more if they're able to do it, because they want to make it possible for those people who are coming in who aren't able to pay that much.

[Gurjeet Kaur]

It sounds like you've spent a lot of time in grocery aisles and diners and school cafeterias, places that we all spend time in or have spent time in when we were kids. Are there things that you've noticed as a reporter in these spaces that maybe those of us who've ever just experienced those places as consumers might not notice?

[Joe Hernandez]

One thing I feel like I did pick up in doing all of this reporting is that a lot of those people who are on the production side of our food system are themselves dealing with these high prices. They have to wrap up their shift or at the end of the day, if they own their business, close up their business and go to the same grocery stores that you and I shop at. And so they, you know, the ones that I talk to. For example, I visited a cattle farm in Kentucky run by a husband and wife couple who live with their two children on the farm and talked about sort of the. The struggles that they have keeping the farm profitable and operating without raising their own prices too high. And just sort of, you know, how they're. They're dealing with it, and then they have to go and go shopping themselves. You know, hopefully one thing that people take away from this is just that, that, that other side, which can often be a little bit elusive or confusing, like why are food prices going up so high? Who is causing and who's responsible? Right? Like, who's setting these prices and why? You know, trying to open a window a little bit into the decision making there and the struggles that those producers and restaurateurs, you know, have as well.

[Gurjeet Kaur]

Joe has this reporting changed at all how you view food and its central place in our lives?

[Joe Hernandez]

Well, I'm trying to be better at looking at prices in the grocery store, for sure. I think reporting on how to cut food costs really illuminated for me some strategies that I could use. I think that a lot of people could use to spend less money on food if you want to do that when you're in the grocery store. And this is small things like going with store brands, for example, which are becoming more popular to big things like budgeting and setting a budget for your family, if you want to do that. And then I just think more broadly, you know, the fact that we live in a food system with other people in it, these producers who are making our, you know, raising beef cattle or catching fish or people who are operating restaurants or school cafeterias, you know, many of them are working with tight budgets themselves to run their businesses and aren't necessarily trying to raise prices on consumers and then themselves have to become consumers at the end of the day or on the weekend when they go food shopping as well.

[Gurjeet Kaur]

Well, you've published five stories so far. You've got more coming. Where can listeners and readers expect the series to go next?

[Joe Hernandez]

Right. So the next story is about the shrinking domestic US Cattle herd. The number of beef and dairy cows is the lowest it's been in decades in the US yet demand for beef is quite high, even though, as we, you know, many of us know of ground beef and beef right now is also very expensive. So, you know, we looked at kind of why it is that if demand is so high, there are so many fewer cows than there once were across the US and there's a lot, a lot of reasons for that as well. But we talked to, you know, I mentioned that that family in Lexington, Kentucky. That really illustrated for me kind of all the pressures they're facing as business owners in running a farm in 2026 and just the difficulty of it.

[Adrian Florido]

Well, we're looking forward to that story. I've been speaking with NPR reporter Joe

[Gurjeet Kaur]

Hernandez, whose series what's Eating America is about how Americans are responding to rising food prices.

[Adrian Florido]

Thanks, Joe.

[Joe Hernandez]

Thank you.

[Adrian Florido]

You can also sign up for his newsletter that offers tips on how to cut your food bill. Find it on our website, npr.org this episode was produced by Gurjeet Kaur. It was edited by Adam Rainey. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenikin.

[Mary Hudson]

Foreign.

[Adrian Florido]

I'm Adrian Florido.

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