Fourth of July BBQ price up $10 one year after White House celebrated 16-cent discount
White House said 16-cent decrease was proof 'the Biden economic plan is working'
Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan discusses the rise in prices as the cost of 4th of July cookouts are up 17% from last year on 'Fox Business Tonight.'
Americans are forking out over $10 more this year on their Independence Day barbecues, one year after the White House was lampooned for a tweet celebrating a 16-cent discount.
The White House was slammed last Fourth of July after it celebrated a report from the American Farm Bureau Federation saying the average cost of a summer cookout was "stable" at $59.50 for 10 people, which was down 16 cents (less than 1%) from 2020, but 8% higher than in 2019.
President Joe Biden addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021, in New York City. (Timothy A. Clary-Pool / Getty Images)
"Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news," the White House tweeted July 1, 2021. "According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish."
At the time of the White House’s tweet, gas prices had already risen more than $1 since President Joe Biden took office, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis was reporting that overall food prices were also on the rise. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mocked Biden’s critics at the time, telling Fox News’ Peter Doocy, "I would say, if you don’t like hot dogs, you may not care of the reduction of cost. You don’t have to like hot dogs."
WHITE HOUSE PANNED OVER TWEET ON PRICE OF FOURTH OF JULY COOKOUTS
But this year, the White House is not celebrating. According to the Farm Bureau’s new report, U.S. consumers are paying $69.68 for their favorite Independence Day cookout foods, including cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, potato salad, strawberries and ice cream.
President Joe Biden introduces his granddaughter Natalie Biden to the media as they walk along Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, June 20, 2022. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Newsroom)
That’s an increase of over $10, or 17%, compared to last year, with the largest year-to-year price increase occurring among ground beef, which is up 36% from last year.
"Despite higher food prices, the supply chain disruptions and inflation have made farm supplies more expensive; like consumers, farmers are price-takers not price-makers," AFBF Chief Economist Roger Cryan said in a press release. "Bottom line, in many cases the higher prices farmers are being paid aren’t covering the increase in their farm expenses. The cost of fuel is up and fertilizer prices have tripled."
Organic ground beef from a supermarket. (Daniel Karmann/picture alliance via / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, inflation accelerated again in May, the government reported earlier this month, with the consumer price index rising by 8.6%, much higher than economists expected. It marks the fastest pace of inflation since December 1981.
U.S. consumer confidence also plunged to 50 this month, a 14.4% drop from May and the lowest reading since the survey began in the late 1970s, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index released Friday.
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The rising prices have eaten away at Americans' earnings as inflation has outpaced wage gains for months, sparking recession concerns as households brace for faster price increases.
FOX Business' Breck Dumas and Megan Henney contributed to this report.