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Three Ways the Record U.S. Diesel Prices Affect You
Perishables at the grocery store
Diesel is integral to the food supply chain. Foods that require refrigeration and are transported long distances ahead of landing on the grocery store shelves are most likely to see price increases.
U.S. Department of Agriculture data suggests that energy, transport, and storage costs contribute to over 7% of total food costs. If these costs rise due to higher diesel prices, experts say perishable goods stand to be most impacted.
“The goods that need lots of refrigeration and are on long routes of transport that are perishable, so the vegetables, meat and dairy, those are more exposed to [diesel costs],” Bernhard Dalheimer, assistant professor in food economics at Purdue University, tells TIME.
Price increases could take a while to be seen at the grocery store, though, as Dalheimer notes shifts in costs can travel “very slowly through the food pipeline.” But when they do trickle down, the increase is more likely to impact lower income families. “These could be small price changes, but people with lower incomes spend a higher proportion of their income on food,” he explains.
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