[advisedwang]

Per the link, food is up 3.1% and everything else 2.9%. So energy pulled inflation up from about 3% to about 4%, but that's not "all of the increase"

[gruez]

>Per the link, food is up 3.1%

But if you look at the sibling comment, all of that came from "Food away from home ". In other words, it's all because of takeout/restaurants, not groceries. Those were actually dragging inflation down.

[usrnm]

Energy going up drives evrything up, including food. Everything we do depends on energy in many different ways.

[advisedwang]

It's possible for energy to be behind the rises in other cost, but the data presented here gives no evidence for or against that possibility.

[usrnm]

It obviously is part of the rises in other cost. We can argue how large a part, but I cannot imagine a world where they are unrelated

[tclancy]

How much of the food cost (and everything else) is tied to the increase in diesel prices? Do they adjust that out?

[jeffbee]

Distributor fuel costs are a really small part of the food price, with the notable exception of things that are bulky and full of air like Cheerios. The overwhelming fuel component of grocery consumption, by a margin so large you can consider it to be 100%, is the consumer's fuel. Driving 5 miles to an American grocery store to buy a few pounds of food is the most absurd scheme ever hatched. Having your groceries delivered by a van on a route is much more efficient but, perversely, by internalizing the last mile fuel cost that would show up as higher prices for food in aggregate inflation statistics.

[tclancy]

I meant more in general. For food, what about fertilizer which has spiked?

[jeffbee]

That's a good question. If I was looking into it, I would look at farm gate prices for various farm products, that the USDA collects. For example, prices received for grains: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Agricultural_Price...