Grocery shoppers in Alabama get an early Christmas present
Alabama shoppers got an early Christmas present in December as the average cost of 20 basic market basket items fell for the second month in a row. Although the cost of some holiday staples was up substantially over this time last year, the Alabama Farmers Federation’s monthly food price survey showed the December market basket averaged $57.63, down 57 cents or about 1 percent from last month.
Savings on meat and poultry led the decline in grocery costs. Bacon was down 36 cents a pound to $5.23, Boston butts were down 8 cents to $2 a pound, and pork chops were down 6 cents to $3.53. Beef eaters enjoyed a 29-cent-per-pound break on T-bone steaks, which averaged $7.61 a pound. Ground beef was up 9 cents to $2.89 a pound, and chuck roasts were up 4 cents to $3.90 a pound.
Chicken breasts were the best buy in the poultry case, with prices falling 22 cents to $1.92 a pound. Whole fryers were down 8 cents to $1.19 a pound.
