Washington, DC’s Fox 5 reports that “rising costs” are “forcing families … to cut back on a grocery staple”: Fresh produce
Reporter Homa Bash: Factors driving up the costs include “higher fertilizer prices because of the war in Iran, as well as higher gas prices used to transport produce from state to state”
Published
This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising prices in the United States. See more here.
Citation
From a June 9, 2026, video posted to the YouTube channel of Fox 5 Washington DC
MARINA MARRACO: (ANCHOR): Rising costs forcing families across the country and right here in the DC region to cut back on a grocery staple. Fox 5’s Homa Bash live in Silver Spring to explain. Hi, Homa.
HOMA BASH (REPORTER): Hey Marina, we're talking about fresh produce here, fruits and veggies. The reason is pretty simple: It costs way more than it did. Some people telling me it is really changing the way they do their grocery shopping, while others say, you know what, it is what it is.
SHOPPER 1: We're trying to eat the best we can. But the healthy food is so expensive, so we have to go back to the pastas and something like that. Vegetables and fruits are so hard, you know?
SHOPPER 2: I agree with that a little bit, mostly because I did start gardening a little bit more because it's easier that way. And yeah, produce is much higher than it used to be, but like you got to eat. So, you know, you got to buy what you got to buy.
SHOPPER 3: It hasn't affected me at all, no, no. I don't eat much fresh produce. Mostly I go out and, you know, eat prepared foods and stuff.
SHOPPER 4: It's way more expensive now.
BASH: Do you buy less produce? There's a new survey out, saying people are just buying less produce, less fresh produce.
SHOPPER 4: Yeah, like, it sucks. Everything sucks right now.
BASH: You know, a lot of people are sharing that sentiment, but there's a new report from the lending company Advance America that surveyed 3,000 American households. They found 1 in 3 Maryland families are finding fresh fruit and veggies no longer a grocery staple, but a luxury instead. 51% say their overall diets are less healthy now than it was 2 to 3 years ago.
For families who haven't reduced fresh produce intake, they're spending an average of $26 more a month on fruits and vegetables, 10% higher than this time last year.
What's driving costs? Well, a few factors; higher fertilizer prices because of the war in Iran, as well as higher gas prices used to transport produce from state to state, and diesel prices for Maryland farmers.
MICHAEL MCMILLIAN (UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF BUSINESS): What I find so disturbing, however, is that it is a problem for consumers in Maryland when Maryland is an agricultural state that grows many of these fruits and vegetables. So farmers in some ways have no other choice but to pass these price increases on fuel and other things onto consumers.
BASH: Now, the report also found that a lot of people, if they're not just cutting out their fruit intake entirely, they're switching over to frozen fruits and vegetables.
And guys, the need is there. The Capital Area Food Bank telling me that they have served 30% more people this year in the DMV than they had initially projected. They initially projected about 50 million meals. They have served 65 million across the region so far.