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# Food prices just had their highest month-to-month jump in years
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/food-prices-just-had-their-highest-month-to-month-jump-in-years/
- Published: 2026-05-19T15:39:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-19T15:39:09.000Z
- Description: Since President Trump started a war with Iran, oil prices have spiked, affecting all aspects of the economy.
- Author: Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Data Harvest, Consumer Price Index, COVID-19, TP::Explainer, food costs, Food Prices, food supply chain, grocery expenses, grocery store expenses, inflation, iran war, Russia, ukraine, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Food prices jumped 0.68% in April compared with the previous month — the largest month-to-month inflation bump since August 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation.

Food inflation has been [growing](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUSR0000SAF11?ref=investigatemidwest.org) since the COVID-19 pandemic, which shocked supply chains, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which affected oil prices, in early 2022\. After a massive uptick, food inflation began to ease during the last two years of the Biden administration.

Between January 2023 and December 2024, “food at home” prices — grocery prices, essentially — on the Consumer Price Index increased 2.68%.

Since Trump regained office in January 2025, food inflation has increased 3.16%.

Trump ran on a platform to “[defeat inflation](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/trump-promised-to-lower-food-prices-but-theyre-still-going-up/),” but, as food prices climbed, he said affordability was a “con job.”

Part of the reason for higher food prices is the [war Trump started with Iran](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/with-iran-war-food-prices-will-grow-faster-than-originally-expected-this-year-usda-predicts/), which predictably closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route. The war has led to [high gas prices](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm?ref=investigatemidwest.org) across the country, and food prices have followed suit.

Recently, Trump was asked whether “Americans’ financial situations” affected his decision-making when it came to ending the war in Iran, [according to NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-not-thinking-american-finances-iran-talk-rcna344785?ref=investigatemidwest.org).

“Not even a little bit,” Trump replied.

Trump said the “only thing that matters” is stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he added. “I don’t think about anybody.”

Last summer, before the latest price jumps, a majority of respondents told an [Associated Press survey](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/content/files/apnorc-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/july-w1-topline%5Fbnpl.pdf) that high food prices were a source of major stress. About 14% of respondents also reported using “buy now, pay later” options — where consumers pay for products in installments — to buy groceries.

Some people have responded by skipping meals, [according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/economy/gas-prices-americans-spending-cuts?ref=investigatemidwest.org).