Look at the data, doom-and-gloomers — food costs aren’t what you think

Nypost · 🇺🇸 public United States · Aug 05, 2026 · 797 words · By David Harsanyi

Historical Economic Context Inflation vs. Wage Growth Critique of Economic Populism

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Historical Economic Context

Look at the data, doom-and-gloomers — food costs aren’t what you think See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 4

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Look at the data, doom-and-gloomers — food costs aren’t what you think See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on Google Voters have a God-given right to complain.

Common ground

It wouldn’t hurt, though, if we occasionally took a minute to place our problems in historical context.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Glittering Generalities: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Historical Economic Context story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that So far in 2026, supermarkets have seen a meager 1.32% net profit?
How does this story connect Historical Economic Context with Inflation vs. Wage Growth over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/05/opinion/check-the-data-doom-and-gloomers-food-cost…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 4 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 85% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 90% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Glittering Generalities 75% confidence

Using vague, emotionally appealing phrases ('freedom', 'justice') without specifics.

Why it matters: Recognizing glittering generalities helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Oversimplification 70% confidence

Reducing a complex issue to a simplistic framing that distorts understanding.

Why it matters: Recognizing oversimplification helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

verified Verified By Reference 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

schedule

Claim 1: “So far in 2026, supermarkets have seen a meager 1.32% net profit.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 2: “Over the past decade, which includes the COVID pandemic, American wages rose over 46%, while food prices rose around 34%.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 3: “Since Trump’s inauguration, the cost of food has risen at a slower pace than overall inflation”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources state that food costs have risen at a slower pace than overall inflation since Trump's inauguration.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The monthly inflation rate has been higher than what Trump inherited; the most recent measurement was 3.5% in June.The food, the groceries, it’s all coming down.” Overall, prices have increased by abo…
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politifact/article/trump-sai…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — While food prices are rising at a slower pace than the overall inflation rate, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. By contrast, housing prices continue to climb at a rate more than double …
https://abc30.com/post/inflation-has-returned-normal-what-do…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Since Trump’s inauguration, the cost of food has risen at a slower pace than overall inflation and is now well within the normal pre-COVID range. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/05/opinion/check-the-data-doom-an…

schedule

Claim 4: “The outbreak of the avian flu spiked egg prices, for instance, and a long drought has boosted the cost of beef.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 5: “In 1901, the average American family spent 42% of its disposable budget on food, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results explicitly state that in 1901, the average American family spent 42% of its disposable budget on food, attributing this to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — African Americans or Black Americans, also formerly called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group. As defined by the United States census, they are Americans who have ancestry from "a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — American Samoa is a self-governing, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the south Pacific Ocean, within the Polynesia subregion of Oceania. Centered on 14.3°S 170.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoa

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American frontier encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_frontier

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 6: “If we remove eating out from the equation and measure only grocery and supermarket shopping, the average family spends just 7.9% of its budget on food”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence contains definitions of 'average' but no specific data regarding the 7.9% figure for grocery shopping excluding dining out.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The most commonly used definition of the average is the arithmetic mean, [4] also known as "arithmetic average" i.e. the sum divided by the count, so the "average" of the list of numbers [2, 3, 4, 7, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Free calculator to determine the average, or the arithmetic mean, of a given data set. It also returns the calculation steps, sum, count, and more.
https://www.calculator.net/average-calculator.html

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · The meaning of AVERAGE is a single value (such as a mean, mode, or median) that summarizes or represents the general significance of a set of unequal values. How to use average in a sente…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/average

schedule

Claim 7: “Thus far this year, we’ve seen a 3% rise overall, with a 2.7% increase in home grocery prices.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 8: “In 1945 it was 23%. In 1965 it was 15%. In 1985 it was around 12%.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the 1901 figure is corroborated, the specific percentages for 1945 (23%), 1965 (15%), and 1985 (12%) appear in the context of the same narrative/source in the search results but are not independently verified by other distinct datasets in the provided evidence.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. It began as a rebellion and turned into a revolution eventually creating the sovereign United St…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 9: “the grocery business is consistently one of the least lucrative in the country, with profit margins around 2%.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 10: “Polls show that two-thirds of the American public consider groceries to be “unaffordable.””

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results cite a Washington Post-Ipsos poll stating that approximately two-thirds (66%) of Americans consider groceries unaffordable.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll found that two-thirds of Americans consider groceries unaffordable. Goodman is among those feeling the squeeze, and there appears to be some risk that she will lose…
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/opinion/poverty-america-o…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Only one-third of respondents now describe grocery prices as affordable, compared with 54 percent earlier this year. Political affiliation continues to shape how Americans view the economy. Roughly ha…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/poll-finds-more…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — About two-thirds, or 66 percent, of Americans say they would describe the cost of groceries as unaffordable, up sharply from the 45 percent who said the same thing in February before the conflict star…
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2026/07/two-thirds-of-ameri…

verified

Claim 11: “In 2025, overall food prices were up 3% — but only 2.4% in supermarkets and groceries.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided Wikipedia results for this claim are irrelevant (defining 'in', 'inch', and 'KIA') and do not provide any data on 2025 food prices.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killed_in_action

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — IN, In or in may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British Imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to ⁠1/36⁠ yard or ⁠1/12⁠ of a foot. Derived from the Roman un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inch

check_circle

Claim 12: “Americans spend far less of their income on food than any people in any other nation on Earth, the USDA has found.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources indicate that the US spends a smaller percentage of its income/household spending on food compared to other nations, citing USDA data (e.g., 7% of total spending).

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S.D.A. (United Street Dopeboyz of America) was a hip hop group from Atlanta. Rapper Jeezy founded the group after his departure from Boyz n da Hood. The original group consisted of Jeezy, Slick Pull…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.D.A._(group)

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Ag…

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 13: “Even in the best of times, retail food prices rise between 2% and 3% year over year.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or contradict the claim that retail food prices typically rise between 2% and 3% annually.

info

Claim 14: “Today, per Agriculture Department calculations, it’s 9.7%.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided mentions a 2022 USDA finding of 7% total household spending on food, but does not specifically confirm the '9.7%' figure mentioned in the claim.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — In 2022, the USDA found that the US had spent only 7% of its total household spending on food. This isn’t saying that the U.S. spends the least money on food, no. Due to the ever-changing dynamics of …
https://feedthelandorg.beehiiv.com/p/the-u-s-spends-the-leas…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Use the Healthy Eating Plate as a guide for creating healthy, balanced meals—whether served at the table or packed in a lunch box. Click on each section of the interactive image below to learn more…
https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/healthy-eating-plat…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — According to the USDA, the average American family of four loses $1,500 each year to uneaten food.
https://stacker.com/stories/food-drink/americans-say-they-lo…

check_circle

Claim 15: “Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s $70 million city-owned supermarket chain.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and news reports, confirm Zohran Mamdani is the Mayor of NYC (as of 2026) and has proposed/appropriated $70 million for a city-owned supermarket chain.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Zohran Mamdani is the 112th mayor of New York City, having served since January 1, 2026. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani was elected mayor in the 202…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayoralty_of_Zohran_Mamdani

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rama Sawaf Duwaji (born June 30, 1997) is an American animator, illustrator, and ceramist. As the wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, she has been the first lady of New York City since January 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_Duwaji

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Zohran Kwame Mamdani (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician who has served since 2026 as the 112th mayor of New York City. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zohran_Mamdani

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.