It would be the second year in a row of high food-price inflation, with an additional year or two of large increases expected. Until 2007, food prices tended to rise more slowly than the overall U.S. inflation rate.
"This year, we expect food prices to increase about 5%," said Joe Glauber, USDA's chief economist. At the start of the year, USDA foresaw a 3.5% rise.