The year 1973 has been chronicled by the news media as the “year of Watergate,” but historians could record that an event of greater long-term significance occurred in that year. The year 1973 may well mark the disappearance of cheap food from American consumers’ tables. Prices for food purchased for home consumption increased during the calendar year 1973 by 16. 3 per cent, the largest increase in one year since the hectic catch-up purchasing spree of 1947. It is possible, as some Administration officials have forecast, that the current alarming rate of inflation in food prices may slacken somewhat in the future. Nevertheless, it seems almost certain that for the foreseeable future the United States will be faced with a strong continuing upward trend in food prices. The increase is expected to approximate 15 per cent for 1974, and the 1975 increase is likely to be of the same magnitude.
Paper published with permission.
