美国国家公共电台 NPR Grocery Prices Have Been Falling. Did You Notice?

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You may have noticed over the past year or so that food prices at supermarkets have been lower than they used to be. That's been great for shoppers, not so great if you are a grocer or a farmer. NPR's Alina Selyukh reports on the causes and effects of the long stretch of low food prices.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE¹: U.S. food prices have just been through the longest period of deflation in about 60 years. But if you're like the dozen grocery shoppers I interviewed this Harris Teeter in Washington, you're probably thinking...

MICHELLE GERMAN: Are you serious? Really?

SELYUKH: That's Michelle German. And, honestly, her reaction was by far the most common, until I met Joe Bontke.

JOE BONTKE: I will say this. I have noticed beef prices. I buy large briskets for a cooking ministry² that I run, and they are at the lowest they've been in a while.

SELYUKH: In fact, beef, dairy and especially eggs saw some serious drops over the course of 2016. That's according to year-to-year price changes tracked by the government.

BRIAN TODD: It is rather a unique period, something certainly I've never seen in my 37 years.

SELYUKH: Brian Todd studies food prices and trends the research group called the Food Institute. He says the last time we saw such a long decline³ of prices compared to a year earlier was in the 1950s. And, typically, food prices fall when the economy's weak, but that's not been the case for a while. So what happened this time?

TODD: It was kind of everything (laughter) hitting at the same time.

SELYUKH: Cost of energy and transportation got lower. China started buying less American food. So did other countries, partly because it got more expensive as the dollar got stronger. At the most basic, it came down to supply and demand. People weren't buying as much beef and eggs as farmers and ranchers were producing.

(PHONE RINGING)

MERRI POST: Hello?

SELYUKH: I reached Merri Post in southwest Minnesota, where she and her husband, Bill, run a dairy farm. Their milk goes into making cheddar cheese.

POST: We produce over 10,000 pounds of milk a day.

SELYUKH: This is their lifeblood. They actually live on the same farm where Bill grew up, and Post says sometimes, like when milk and feed prices stay low and there is a glut⁴, a farmer may work at a loss.

POST: There are times you know that that day, for that month, you're maybe writing a check for the privilege to go milk your cows. You're not making money. (Laughter).

SELYUKH: I read these stories of dairy farmers pouring excess milk onto fields.

POST: Yes. In Michigan. We aren't at that, although our creameries are full. They can't take on more milk.

SELYUKH: And it's not like we all stopped eating cheese all of a sudden.

POST: Our consumption⁵ is actually pretty good in the U.S., but there's no way they can eat enough cheese and ice cream to use everything we produce, although I'd like to sure see them try.

SELYUKH: Good news for Post - the dairy price index is slowly starting to tick up along with many other foods. So what about grocery price tags?

JON SPRINGER: They will gradually go up.

SELYUKH: Jon Springer is the retail⁶ editor at Supermarket News.

SPRINGER: One of the big questions is sort of how fast the retailers⁷ will enact⁸ their own price increases, right? Because they've got to keep an eye on one another because nobody wants to look like they're more expensive than the other guy.

SELYUKH: The price wars among grocery stores have been intense. Wal-Mart, Kroger, now Amazon have been fighting for the lowest prices around. Even the typically upscale Whole Foods last week lowered prices for organic baby kale. The Food Institute is predicting that overall, prices this year compared with last year will be higher by only about 1 percent. Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

4 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

5 consumption   

n.消费，消耗，消费额，消耗量，结核病

参考例句：

• Consumption of oil has declined in recent years.石油消耗量在最近几年下降了。
• The meat was condemned as unfit for human consumption.这种肉已被宣布不适宜人们食用。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

8 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。