CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Economists say prices for staples like meat and bacon are cooling after recent spikes, but it’s the prices of tomatoes seeing the latest growth.
“I have honestly not been in the grocery store too much. So, when I came here and saw these were $2.99, I’m like, huh, that’s probably like $1.20 more than what I am used to,” said Sasha Vann at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market Saturday afternoon.
Local farmer FatBoy Produce says he was paying $60 for a bushel of tomatoes early last week, but by Thursday morning, the price had more than doubled to $140 a bushel.
The latest consumer price index shows that tomato prices soared by more than 15 percent in March. Labor officials report prices significantly increasing inside grocery stores — with field-grown tomatoes hitting about $2.26 per pound in March. That’s nearly two dollars more than February’s prices…