Why Groceries in America Still Won't Come Down

Since January 2020, US grocery prices are up 31.9% and wages are up 33%, yet the same cart still feels like a robbery. Farmers keep 18.5 cents of every grocery dollar and grocers net about 1.7 cents, so where does the rest go? Our diagnosis: chronic, not acute. Chapters: 0:00 Symptoms 2:11 Vital Signs 3:03 Test 1: Groceries vs Wages 8:17 Test 2: Where the Dollar Goes 13:40 Test 3: Why Prices Stay High 17:27 The Treatment So Far 19:10 Prognosis 20:23 Diagnosis Sources: BLS – Consumer Price Index, Sept 2026 – https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.... BLS – Real Earnings, Sept 2026 – https://www.bls.gov/news.release/arch... USDA ERS – Food Dollar Series – https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-product... USDA ERS – Food Price Outlook – https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-product... USDA ERS – Food Prices and Spending – https://ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag... GAO – Shrinkflation and Inflation (GAO-25-107451) – https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-25-... FTC – Grocery Supply Chain Disruptions Report – https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/... Kansas City Fed – Economic Bulletin on Food Prices – https://kansascityfed.org/documents/9... FMI – Shoppers' Summer Plans, June 2026 – https://www.fmi.org/blog/fmi-blog/202... The Shelby Report – FMI Industry Margins – https://theshelbyreport.com/2025/07/1... Pro Farmer – US Cattle Herd 86.2 Million – https://www.profarmer.com/news/u-s-be... Just Food – Tyson Beef Losses – https://www.just-food.com/news/tyson-... GAO – Beef Industry Concentration (1991) – https://www.gao.gov/assets/rced-91-28... Chain Store Age – Walmart's 21% Grocery Share – https://chainstoreage.com/numerator-w... CBS News – Kroger-Albertsons Merger Blocked – https://www.cbsnews.com/news/krogers-... Data: FRED (St. Louis Fed) · BLS · USDA ERS Footage & photos: Pexels · Wikimedia Commons (see credits below) Maps: Natural Earth · Sentinel-2 cloudless by EOX This video is for education, not financial advice. #economics #usa #economy Image credits: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0) Wikimedia Commons contributor (CC BY-SA 3.0) Harrison Keely / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) Nkanplain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) SteKrueBe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) Corey Coyle / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) Constitutional Court of Korea / Wikimedia Commons (Attribution) Wolfmann / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Downtowngal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) epSos.de / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Shixart1985 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Milequem Diarassouba / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Rod Waddington / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Chris McAndrew / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)