Produce Prices Skyrocketing - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

Ouch! Have you felt it yet?

Expect to pay more on your next trip to the grocery store.

Freezing temperatures in parts of the United States and Mexico have wiped out crops.

And now, produce prices have skyrocketed

Prices have already doubled and even tripled on things like pepper, onions lettuce, and tomatoes.

One store worker in OKC says, "Tomatoes mostly. A week ago we're at 99 cents per pound.. now we're at 1.99 They've doubled in price".
 
"I walked over and noticed it was a dollar more expensive than last time," said shopper Ashley Taylor.

Taylor is a new "stay at home" mom.

She watches her grocery bill; walking the aisles has turned into a balancing act.

"We like to be healthy, so I still want to buy produce. So it stinks the prices are so high," said Taylor.

Shopper Kathryn Rigsby says the high prices make it difficult for her.

She has a limited budget and health issues.

She needs healthy foods, but sometimes has no choice,

"You do without a lot of times, without what you really want and need to eat," said Rigsby.

The higher prices will more than likely spill over into other areas too.

Store Manager, Michael Powers says, "I would expect that a lot of restaurants will start having their servers ask customers if they want tomatoes with their sandwich, rather than just throwing them out there automatically on every dish."

And by the way, that is already happening at some fast food joints, like Wendy's, for example.

Experts say it will four to eight weeks, before prices go down.