Are the groceries more expensive now vs Joe biden

1. What happened under Biden: a steep grocery climb

Official measures and detailed reporting tie a big portion of the grocery pain to the Biden years: Wisconsin Watch finds the Consumer Price Index for “food at home” rose from 252.7 in Jan 2021 to 305 in Dec 2023 — a 20.7% jump, with wages growing far less (14.7%) over the same span ^[1]. Analysts cited by outlets note the large spike in 2022–early 2023 left grocery bills permanently higher for many households, even after price growth slowed ^[5].

2. The post‑Biden picture: small net changes, big item swings

After January 2025, multiple fact‑checks and data snapshots paint a mixed outcome: a “food at home” measure rose by just under 1% from Dec 2024 to July 2025 (PolitiFact) while BBC cited official data showing groceries up 2.7% in the 12 months to Sept 2025 — but those averages mask big swings in items like eggs, beef, coffee and dairy ^{[2] [3]}. Reuters’ coverage emphasizes the political reality: once prices have risen, they rarely fall quickly for consumers ^[4].

3. Why averages hide important detail

Aggregate CPI rates for “food at home” smooth large category volatility. Fact‑checkers highlight that although the broad grocery index has been relatively flat recently, many staples continued to climb between late 2024 and mid‑2025 — ground beef, bacon, coffee, dairy and sugar among them — while a few items (eggs at times) moved the other way ^{[2] [6]}. USDA and ERS forecasts also show category‑by‑category differences, with food‑at‑home expected to rise at a slower rate than overall food in 2025 but still increase ^[7].

4. Policy moves and short‑term limits on relief

Both administrations have acted to address prices but with different tools and timelines. The Biden White House framed efforts to press retailers and curb corporate concentration as ways to reduce grocery costs (White House memo) ^[8]. The Trump administration rolled back some tariffs in late 2025 intended to reduce costs for items like coffee and orange juice, but analysts and outlets warned that tariff relief won’t translate immediately into lower shelf prices because inventories bought under higher tariffs persist and supply‑chain lags matter (Axios; CNBC; Washington Post) ^{[9] [10] [11]}.

5. Political framing vs. the data: competing claims

Political claims about who “brought prices down” conflict with the data. Trump’s public assertions that groceries are lower since Biden left have been fact‑checked and found misleading; his team later softened claims to say only certain staples are “starting to see declines,” which aligns with selective item drops but not broad CPI declines (CNN; PolitiFact) ^{[12] [2]}. The Reuters narrative underscores the bipartisan problem: presidents face limits in quickly reversing elevated prices once they’ve occurred ^[4].

6. What consumers are actually feeling and why that matters

Journalists and researchers emphasize the lived effect: families feel the pinch because grocery bills jumped quickly in 2021–2023, and small declines in some items won’t erase those sustained increases or the erosion of real wages. Nonprofit and policy pieces point to corporate profits and market concentration as additional drivers; the Biden administration cited antitrust and industry pressure as part of its “lowering costs” agenda ^{[13] [8]}.

Limitations and unresolved questions

Available sources disagree on magnitude and timing for recent declines: some official series show near‑flat grocery inflation in parts of 2025, others show modest year‑over‑year increases and large item‑level variance ^{[2] [3] [7]}. Sources do not provide a single definitive, up‑to‑date number covering all grocery items past Sept 2025; for that, current BLS/ERS monthly CPI releases would be required — not included in the supplied reporting.