By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report.
Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.
It recommends a list of changes including streamlining the zoning and permitting process, and building coalitions to fight overly restrictive federal and state mandates.
The series examines policy decisions on agriculture that were made during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the policy reactions to it exposed supply-chain and other vulnerabilities that still require solutions,” states a foundation’s report that accompanies the series. “The pandemic also worsened the growing food insecurity problem in North Carolina. Over 10% of North Carolinians struggle to secure enough food for a healthy lifestyle, according to the USDA. Only about 6% of adults in the state report consuming at least two servings of vegetables or fruits per day. Meanwhile, over one-third are obese, according to the Body Mass Indexes.”
At the same time, grocery prices skyrocketed 25% from 2019-2023, the Foundation said. The last three years are in the Biden administration, which pushes Vice President Kamala Harris and her first price gouging federal law on food suppliers and grocers.
“Climate policies such as carbon pricing add significant expenses to farmers’ operating budgets, translating to an annual increase in a family of four’s grocery bills by $1,330,” the Locke Foundation said. “Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting requirements and emissions monitoring increase participating farms’ annual operating expenses by an estimated 34%, beyond the reach of many smaller farms despite their need for market access.”
The report challenges the assertion that higher food prices are the result of corporate greed.
“There is competition across the many segments of the food industry,” the foundation states. “Widespread and coordinated price gouging is unlikely.”
It cites higher fuel costs as a key reason for rising prices at the grocery stores.
Overly restrictive zoning and permitting requirements have also hampered food production in North Carolina, the foundation report concludes.
“One of the most substantial challenges with zoning regulations is their complexity and cost of compliance,” the reports says. “Farmers often face a maze of rules and regulations that require time, money, and expertise to navigate – diverting resources away from essential farming activities and placing an undue strain on farmers, particularlysmaller operations with limited staff and financial resources.”
