This is not conclusive. Check out the 1 year graph for food commodities prices. Some indeed are going up, but others are going down.
http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/
Food prices have been rising for the last 6 years, and it’s been in spurts and not always the same thing obviously.
The commodity prices may not be rising as drastically, but the finished goods for the most part have risen dramatically at one point or another over the last 6 years.
I’m not even factoring in the “hidden” inflation due to portion shrinkage. For example, look at a simple microwave Burrito in the frozen food section and you will find a much, MUCH smaller version than what you got a few years ago at a slowly increasing price. Up until recently, that same smaller Burrito was stuffed inside the old wrapper which was made for something 3 times its size and I got a good laugh out of that.
It doesn’t matter if the commodity price of sugar, wheat, and soybeans is down YOY. With increased transportation and production costs, the price of the end product - a loaf of bread, a pack of cookies, etc. is UP, way up.
Last year, this time, I was able to buy two loaves of BJ’s brand bread for 1.99. This year, the same exact product costs 2.69. That’s a 35% increase in the price of a loaf of bread YOY. Huge increase.
Please tell me you're being sarcastic.
You list commodities prices with tiny decreases? We're interested here in the prices on the shelf -- the prices consumers pay, the prices we pay. Other than coffee, due to a particularly good harvest last year, I haven't seen much going down. Have you?