As the economy continues to barely stay afloat in America researchers are predicting that food prices are going to raise 2%-3% this year. As the American dollar continually decreases in value and Americans are going unemployed, this makes getting food for the lower and middle class more difficult. USA Today reported that 1 in 7 Americans today are on food stamps, and that 1 in 4 children are receiving food stamps. This is a large amount of people in the nation, bringing more families into the lower class bracket. As people become more poor the middle class society starts to vanish.
Experts are saying that the main reason food costs are expected to rise is because of the high gas prices that the nation is seeing at the pumps. When food companies have to pay more to ship items, along with local farmers and producers, this causes them to raise their prices. In return the stores are charging the consumers higher prices, and getting the food that everyone needs to survive continually becomes more difficult. As more Americans struggle to find the funds to purchase the food that they need, and the as the government struggles to provide assistance to all of those that need it we find ourselves asking the question, will there be a middle class, or will people be defined as rich or poor?
If the middle class can't afford to shop at the store and fill their tanks up with gas, does this put them into the category of poor? The rich are the only people who are able to survive comfortably right now in this economy, and everyone else is struggling to get by. Homes are being loss, jobs are hard to find, and American's are struggling to survive. The rise in food prices is only going to hurt the middle class more than they are already suffering, and this may push many more middle class American's into the lifestyle of the lower class. Until this country can turn the economy around, the American dollar is going to continue to decrease in value and everyone is going to suffer.
