The American Farm Bureau says like a lot of other things, the price of food increased during the first quarter of this year. The Farm Bureau conducts a nationwide survey of the cost of sixteen basic food items. The total for the first quarter of 2001 was thirty-three dollars and 73-cents — an increase of 25 cents over the last survey. Iowa Farm Bureau spokesman Aaron Putze says the increases included: corn oil, up 33 cents; a pound of ground beef, up 12 cents; and a four-cent increase for a gallon of milk. Some items did drop in price — like a pound of cheese, which was down 23 cents.A ten-pound bag of potatoes was down ten cents and a dozen eggs was down a penny. Putze expects to see more changes in the next survey, as changes in production costs usually don’t show up immediately in the grocery store.Putze says the cost of the items in the first quarter of 2001 was up 24 cents from the same time last year.
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