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☆ There's been a spike in Americans skipping meals since the end of pandemic-era benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Over half of Americans on SNAP benefits are eating less, a new report found. More Americans are skipping meals six months after the end of pandemic SNAP expansions. AdvertisementAdvertisementMany Americans are eating less and attending food pantries more frequently six months after the end of pandemic-era Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, expansions. As many as 16 million households received reductions to their SNAP benefits starting in March. Over 80% of those receiving SNAP benefits are elderly Americans, working families, or people with disabilities, the USDA said.

Persons: Biden, —, Tom Vilsack Organizations: SNAP, Service, Nutrition Assistance, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Food Research, Action Center, Social, Women, USDA Locations: —

☆ Costco tops quarterly earnings expectations, even as sales remain soft
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Costco on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations, as shoppers turned to the membership club for groceries but bought fewer big-ticket items. As of the end quarter, Costco had 32.3 million paid executive memberships, an increase of 981,000 since the end of the prior quarter. Those higher-tier members now account for slightly over 45% of all paid membership, Galanti said. Costco echoed a trend seen at rival retailers, including Walmart and Target : Groceries are the category driving sales. In the year-ago fiscal fourth quarter, comparable sales rose 15.8% in the U.S., but since then they have largely decelerated.

Persons: Richard Galanti, Galanti Organizations: Costco, Walmart, Sam's, BJ's Wholesale Locations: U.S, LSEG, —, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Japan, Australia

NEW YORK (AP) — Pets provide joy and companionship, but costs can add up quickly, especially if you're a first-time owner and don't know what to expect. Once you get them home, pets need a bed, food, leashes and harnesses and grooming supplies, among other things. Gelber ended up paying a small fraction of those amounts because she had pet insurance, which she got knowing that French bulldogs are prone to getting sick. But Simon, who has had dogs for 25 years, has never gotten pet insurance and has not needed it during that time. Regardless of how much they have spent on their dogs, Chavez, Gelbert and Simon agree they don't regret having them in their lives.

Persons: it's, ”, Wendy Hauser, Melissa Chavez, Milo, “ I’ve, ” Chavez, Kerry O'Hara, Lauren Gelber, Gelber, Sharon Simon, Simon, Hauser, “, Maine coons, " Hauser, Chavez, I’m, “ Don’t, Gelbert, Charles Schwab Organizations: American Pet Products Association, American Society for, French bulldogs, bulldogs, Facebook, Associated Press, Charles, Charles Schwab Foundation, Inc, AP Locations: APPA, Marin , California, Europe, Salinas , California, Maine

“It looks like somebody took a bunch of dynamite and threw it up on top of the trees,” he said. The hurricane made landfall on Wednesday in a sparsely populated area of Florida known as the Big Bend, which includes Levy County. Mr. Bobbitt, 47, knew that Cedar Key’s mayor had begged people to leave on Tuesday. “I felt like I had some resources here to be able to help folks,” Mr. Bobbitt said. “Our little downtown shopping district, with our restaurants and our shops — 100 percent of those buildings are ruined,” Mr. Bobbitt said.

Persons: Donald Cowan, Idalia, ”, Michael Presley Bobbitt, I’ve, Bobbitt, “, Mr, ” Mr, Kenny Young, Young, that’s Organizations: Cedar Locations: Levy County, Fla, Inglis, Florida, Bend, Levy, Gulf of Mexico

New York CNN Business —Taylor Swift’s era-defining “Eras” tour is flying like a jet stream, high above the music scene — by billions of dollars. The tour could gross $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone, according to August survey data from research firm QuestionPro provided to CNN exclusively. ‘An economic phenomenon’“Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour is rewriting the playbook of entertainment economics,” said Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek. “She’s not just a performer — she’s an economic phenomenon.”The average resale price of an “Eras” ticket was $1,607, SeatGeek told CNN. Swift kicked off the highly-anticipated “Eras” — her first tour since her “Reputation” stadium tour in 2018 — in March.

Persons: New York CNN Business — Taylor, QuestionPro, Swift, Elton John’s, Larry Miller, New York University Steinhardt, “, ”, Miller, concertgoers, Taylor, Chris Leyden, “ She’s, —, SeatGeek, “ Taylor, Terri Shoemaker, Taylor Swift, Hell, Swifties, “ We’ve, Ethan Chernofsky, That’s, it’s, I’ve Organizations: New York CNN Business, North, CNN, New York University, Swift, Arizona Food Bank Network, Retailers, Ticketmaster, Entertainment, Nissan Locations: Los Angeles, American, North America, Arizona, Philadelphia, Nashville , Tennessee, Arlington , Texas

☆ Taylor Swift is a hero to food banks from coast to coast
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

From Georgia to Michigan to Texas to California and in between, food banks have benefited. “Taylor Swift’s donation certainly helped at a time when we’re seeing the need climb and climb and climb,” Shoemaker told CNN. Food banks around the country are contending with increased demand, higher costs and tighter supplies of donated food. Many food banks say need has increased in 2023, driven in part by the end of a pandemic enhancement to food stamps nationwide earlier this year. A flurry of other contributions followed over the next week, jumping 43% from the same period a year earlier, said Shobana Gubbi, the food bank’s chief philanthropy officer.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Terri Shoemaker, “ Taylor, ” Shoemaker, Swift, Mark Coleman, Coleman, Shobana Gubbi, Swift’s largesse, ”, Beth Martino Organizations: New, New York CNN, Arizona Food Bank Network, CNN, Lifeline, Food Bank Locations: New York, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona, Seattle, United States, Valley, Santa Clara , California, Las Vegas, Nevada

☆ American price elasticity stretched to the limit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States may be over the hump on inflation, but consumers aren’t acting like it. Lingering restraint will stretch the power of price elasticity to its limits. Similarly, PepsiCo’s (PEP.O) 14% increase in North American prices of Mountain Dew, Tropicana orange juice and other beverages cost it 4% in quarterly sales. Strong appetites for Oreos and Wheat Thins lifted Mondelez International’s (MDLZ.O) sales 2% in the United States, Canada and Mexico, even as prices climbed 10%. They have climbed 3.5% from a year earlier, surpassing the 3.2% annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.

Persons: Mondelez, Darden, Ricardo Cardenas, Laxman Narasimhan, Marriott, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, of Michigan, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, Capital, Procter & Gamble, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Reuters Graphics Reuters, U.S, of Labor Statistics, Thomson Locations: States, Dew, United States, Canada, Mexico, American

CNN —Wall Street bankers, investors and economists have for months waffled over whether a US recession is coming. But for some Americans, the unforgiving economic pain typical during recession has already set in. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of economic output, so if more Americans are forced to cut back because they were laid off, that might throw the US economy into a recession. Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan told CNN last week that he expects a mild recession early next year, rather than the late 2022 recession many have predicted. That means that laid-off Americans were often able to find a new job quickly due to a hot job market.

Persons: Al Brown, Brown, it’s, ” Brown, That’s, Allison Joyce, haven’t, Nina McCollum, hasn’t, She’s, ” McCollum, ”, Thomas Simons, ” Simons, Eva Marie Uzcategui, —, Timothy A, Clary, Brian Moynihan, frustrates McCollum, Regina Walton, Walton, she’s, “ It’s, I’ve, ” Walton, “, I’m, Richard Murray, Murray, he’s, you’re Organizations: CNN, Wall, Flyers, New, New Hanover NCWorks, Workforce, Bloomberg, Getty, Investors, Jefferies, National Bureau of Economic Research, Traders, New York Stock Exchange, Bank of America, San Francisco Bay Area, Companies, Consolidated Omnibus Budget, Cascade Locations: Concord , North Carolina, America, New Hanover, Wilmington , North Carolina, Cleveland , Ohio, Miami , Florida, AFP, San Francisco Bay, “, Boston

☆ How 2 Gen X moms are grappling with food stamp cuts, surviving off $23 in monthly benefits and struggling to pay bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Cuts have made it difficult for these Gen X moms to put food on the table or pay their bills. In mid-May, her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits check dropped from $516 to just $23. Starting in March, millions of Americans receiving SNAP benefits lost hundreds of dollars from their grocery budgets as the pandemic-era food stamps expansion ended. To supplement her sudden drop in benefits, she's gotten food from local food pantries, though they rarely had meats, gave out expired breads, and mostly had canned foods. Do you rely on SNAP benefits and are affected by these changes?

Persons: —, Venus Barnes, She's, she's, everybody's, Barnes, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, — Barnes, I've, I'm, Khiana Organizations: SNAP, Service, Collins Aerospace, Assistance, Social, Food Research, Action, Security, Insurance Locations: North Carolina, Maryland

☆ Italians are furious over soaring pasta prices and some are threatening a macaroni strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Grocery prices in Europe have been on the rise. Britain — where food inflation has reached 45-year highs — is discussing a similar move. In comparison, U.S. food prices rose 7.7% in April from a year earlier, 8.2% in Japan and 9.1% in Canada. Such controls could actually make food inflation worse by increasing demand from shoppers but discouraging new supply, he said. "The current food price shock does not warrant such intervention," Shearing said.

Persons: —, Furio Truzzi, Borey, Helen Barnard, Anna Sjovorr, hasn't, that's, Neil Shearing, Shearing, SWG pollsters, Carlo Compellini, Marie Antoinette, Roberto Dipiazza Organizations: Service, Shoppers, European Union, Trussell, European Central Bank, U.S . Federal, Capital Economics Locations: Europe, Rome, U.S, Japan, Ukraine, Paris, Britain, Hungary, Croatia, Spain, United Kingdom, London, Canada, Trieste, Italian

☆ The Immigrant Experience in a Danish Butter Cookie Tin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Raksha Vasudevan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Now the brand has established dominance: For customers around the world, its blue tin, with its elegant cursive lettering and quaint Danish farmhouse, is inseparable from the experience of the cookies themselves. So, while that early disappointment should have made me wary, the Royal Dansk tin became a hypnotic object for me. Every few days, I opened the blue tin, as if there might be one last cookie to assuage my sadness. We were not unique in our attachment to the blue tin: It’s ubiquitous in many Asian and Latino households. As generations of immigrants know, there is no topping the Danish Butter Cookie tin as an all-purpose repository.

Organizations: Royal Dansk Locations: India, Royal, Danish, Canada

☆ You Don’t Always Need a Recipe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Sam Sifton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Spend enough time with New York Times Cooking and eventually you’re going to deviate from a recipe, or cook without one entirely. The recipe calls for chicken, shallots, smoked paprika and cream, but what you have is pork chops, onions, flour, white wine and Lawry’s seasoned salt. These are people who have made a recipe enough times that they know the instructions cold and have streamlined them according to their tastes and needs. They’ve cooked enough by this point, out of enough pantries, using enough different techniques, that they believe in their abilities. Give those people a few prompts and they don’t need all the measurements.

☆ Google reportedly eliminated some office snacks, including dried mangoes and M&Ms, in an effort to cut costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Google employee said certain snacks are no longer available at its San Francisco office, per The Atlantic. Hungry Google employees may be disappointed to learn that their employer has cut some of its office snacks. "They took away the dried mango," a project manager at Google who works from the search giant's San Francisco office told The Atlantic. The project manager — who spoke to The Atlantic anonymously — said the San Francisco office also got rid of Maui-onion chips and small bags of M&Ms. The elimination of snacks is just one of many perks Google has slashed in its effort to cut costs.

They said two in five people seeking food assistance in the Atlanta region this year have not done so before. In central Ohio, the local food bank says the number of households seeking aid has increased by nearly half since last year. Craig Gundersen, a Baylor University economics professor who is a prominent researcher for Feeding America, said that food banks experiencing spikes above COVID levels are outliers. The Highland Food Pantry in Winchester, Virginia, said it served about 90 families a week during the pandemic. In early April, White visited a community center to donate old clothes and noticed a line for the food pantry.

Four food banks told Reuters that demand is up between 46 and 125% since last spring, and that visits to their pantries are as high or higher than they were at the height of the pandemic. "But for food banks, we're still deep in a crisis." Food banks also feel the pinch: two organizations told Reuters their food costs are up 25 to 30% this year compared to last spring. Democrats in Congress negotiated a compromise with Republicans to end the benefits in exchange for a new summer food program for children. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in December that it would allocate an additional $1 billion to food banks to meet rising demand.

☆ More millennials are turning 40 — and they're changing travel as we know it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

And they're bringing their tech-savviness, social consciousness and spending habits in tow, which is transforming a travel industry intent on staying ahead of the times. "When it comes to nearly all travel behaviors, millennials are the generation most likely to engage — and they do so often," said Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult. Where millennials stayFrederic Lalonde, CEO of the travel app Hopper, said its customers are twice as likely to stay in a home than a hotel. "It's all driven by our primary users, who are millennials and Gen Z," he said at the Skift Global Forum 2022. Since 2019, Airbnb home rentals increased the most among travelers with children aged six and younger, according to the company.

☆ Shrinking food stamp benefits for families mean yet another challenge for retailers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This month, pandemic-related emergency funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, is ending in most states, leaving many low-income families with less to spend on food. More than 41 million Americans receive funding for food through the federal program. For those households, it will amount to at least $95 less per month to spend on groceries. The nonprofit used to provide about 7 million meals per month before the pandemic and now provides between 11 million and 12 millions meals per month. "We knew these [extra SNAP funds] were going away and they were going to be sunsetted," she said.

☆ Minnesota Republican votes against free school meals bill because 'I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Republican state senator voted against a bill to provide free school meals to Minnesota students. Steve Drazkowski said it wasn't needed as he was "yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry." "I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry," said Drazkowski. "I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that says they don't have access to enough food to eat." Though Drazkowski voted against the bill, it passed 38-26 in the Senate.

☆ 'Zoom rooms' and hideaway offices show how remote work is changing the way we design new homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Family homes with two offices and "Zoom rooms" with camera-ready lighting are popular. The real-estate site Zillow told Insider offices were mentioned in 11.5%% of all listings in February 2023, up 4.5% from February 2022. Amanda Pendleton, Zillow's home-trends expert, told Insider a home office was no longer a "nice-to-have luxury." "When people don't have enough space or cash for two full-sized offices, they're replacing rooms," Hester said. She told Insider Veev's homes had LED strips around the edge of the ceiling to make even lighting that works well on camera.

☆ Campbell Soup lifts sales outlook as Americans keep snacking
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Deborah Mary Sophia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Though stretched thin amid increasing prices, Americans are still snacking on Campbell's cookies and salty snacks while a continued preference for cooking at home has further bolstered demand. While U.S. soup sales rose 7% in the second quarter, Campbell is facing growing competition from cheaper private-label counterparts for soups and broth. New Jersey-based Campbell expects fiscal 2023 net sales to rise between 8.5% and 10%, up from its previous forecast of 7% to 9%. It also projected annual adjusted earnings of $2.95 to $3.00 per share, compared with a prior target of $2.90 to $3.00. Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Milla NissiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Huge hunger cliff' looms, warns expert: Average recipient to get $90 less in food stamps as Covid aid ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

watch now"That's a really tight budget if you're talking about low-income families," said Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director at the Food Research and Action Center. The Food Research and Action Center has advocated for congressional legislation to address the problem. Food bank braces for increased demandLos Angeles County Regional Food Bank workers help with food distribution in Willowbrook, California, on April 29, 2021. The food bank has been increasing its food purchases in recent weeks to anticipate increased demand for food assistance, Flood said. In the aftermath of the pandemic's onset in 2020, the food bank was serving 1 million county residents, Flood said.

☆ Millions of Americans are facing a hunger cliff as food stamps are slashed: 'The poorer you are, the poorer you eat'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Those emergency allotments ending will leave some with hundreds less in SNAP benefits each month. Courtesy of David WelchWelch is one of the millions of Americans suddenly contending with the end of pandemic-era expanded food stamps. The emergency allotments also helped keep many out of poverty. For some, the emergency allotments meant more than just sustenance — it also meant nutrition. The recipients Insider spoke to are just a handful among the millions of people who were still receiving the emergency allotments.

☆ Food banks, already struggling with high demand, are bracing themselves for an onslaught once emergency food stamps wind down: 'This is really, really going to hurt some of the most vulnerable populat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Food banks are bracing for an onslaught amidst reduced resources and high prices. The food bank has already been up against high food and gas costs and increased demand. And it's not just the food banks themselves that will be affected but also the programs and partners the food banks work with. "A lot of people aren't really thinking in terms of that, that this is really, really going to hurt some of the most vulnerable populations." And while demand continues, there isn't as much food available as during the pandemic when food banks were given assistance.

☆ U.S. food benefits for poor to shrink as pandemic provisions end
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Leah Douglas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives may also pursue further cuts to food assistance to shrink the U.S. deficit. “It’s going to put millions of households at risk of hunger,” said Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger. The changes mean cuts of about $82 a month beginning in March for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, said Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger group. But in December’s spending bill fight, Congress negotiated a compromise to end them in February in exchange for a new summer food program for children. More than 76% of the current farm bill’s $428 billion price tag went to food assistance programs that serve 41 million people annually.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives may also pursue further cuts to food assistance to shrink the U.S. deficit. "It’s going to put millions of households at risk of hunger," said Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger. The changes mean cuts of about $82 a month beginning in March for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, said Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger group. But in December's spending bill fight, Congress negotiated a compromise to end them in February in exchange for a new summer food program for children. More than 76% of the current farm bill's $428 billion price tag went to food assistance programs that serve 41 million people annually.

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