Michigan mom Laura Isenhart has changed the way she shops for her family because the cost of food and energy is rising. The change is simple but effective: know what to cook for breakfast and dinner, stick to your grocery list and don’t venture inside. Take advantage of grocery pickup services.
“The biggest thing that’s changed over the last year is planning ahead,” Isenhart, who lives in Flushing, told me. “I used to just plan for dinners for the week. Now, I plan breakfasts and lunches too. That alone has cut about $30 a week off our grocery bill.”
Affordability has become part of our shared vocabulary, not just a talking point, but a lived experience. Meat costs more. Gas has nearly doubled in recent months, a cudgel being used against us, and it’s affecting everything from commuting, to rideshare services, to farming and manufacturing.
When my geriatric clunker was new, a full tank gas cost me about $22. Last week it was over $100. And that’s up about 30% from January 2025. This isn’t about kids getting two dolls versus 30. This is not just about weekly kitchen table conversations Michiganders and Midwesterners are having about budget adjustments. This seems to be something deeper. America’s economy is the strongest in the world. Yet these economic fissures that we are experiencing are signaling a change in habits.
The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Midwest, which includes Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri, shows that the region’s Consumer Price Index — a key indicator of inflation — rose 2.8% from February 2025 – February 2026. The index for food grew 3.1%. Natural gas prices — a necessity for many rural communities and grill masters — rose 19.5% year over year.
Reality feels worse than what the data show.
According to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal tariffs have cost Michigan working families approximately $1,000 per year. These tariffs have contributed to higher prices for consumer goods, including vehicles and appliances, while also creating significant costs for Michigan’s agriculture and manufacturing industries.
Meanwhile, a recent survey by LendingTree notes that 49% of Americans are finding it more difficult to afford food. The Lending Tree survey said 16% of consumers visit multiple stores to find deals.
Facing rising prices and tightening budgets, the primary household shoppers — still disproportionately women — are adapting in real time.
It’s not a heavy lift to find social media groups sharing shopping strategies. Grocery store apps, which allow you to plan a week of meals, purchase what you need, use e-coupons and get a few cents off gas purchases per gallon, are becoming more common. Shoppers told me they are timing purchases around sales cycles and driving to other communities to save money. One experienced mom buys food on the day fuel points are quadrupled.
It is not uncommon for families to map out multi-store routes: Aldi for produce, Meijer for bulk items, Walmart for household goods and a local grocer for meat specials.
At the root of the most recent price increases are policy decisions — from tariffs to spending priorities to energy. Global instability adds another layer. Tensions involving Iran have made markets skittish, pushing energy prices higher and fueling uncertainty that lands at the checkout kiosk.
I am reminded of the energy crisis of 1979, when ads featuring actor Gregory Peck encouraged us, “America don’t blow it,” and inviting us to order a guide to energy saving. President Jimmy Carter even wore a sweater in the White House and turned down thermostats. Collective sacrifice was what they were selling.
Nearly a century ago, populist Louisiana Gov. Huey Long exhorted: “a chicken in every pot” and “every man a king!” That was Depression-era political mythmaking. The real question isn’t how families are adapting. It’s why families have to at this point in time. While declarations of chicken in every pot have always been hyperbole, the reality is a pound of ground beef costs more than the federal hourly minimum wage.
This is an alarming shift that feels like more than inflation alone. It feels more like an erosion of values tied to our collective well-being. And when a nation as prosperous as ours begins to normalize scarcity, something deeper is happening. And before you know it, the scarcity mentality becomes part of our culture.
Byron McCauley is a regional columnist for USA TODAY Co. Email: bmccauley@usatodayco.com; call: (513) 504-8915.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Economic uncertainty threatening the way we live | Opinion
Reporting by Byron McCauley, Cincinnati Enquirer / The Holland Sentinel
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