As if going to the gas station wasn't painful enough, your local meat market may be the next stop to hurt your wallet.
It seems as though the Midwest snowstorms are causing an increase in meat prices.
"We don't even get to get out as much because of no gas or nothing. So we got to really save up for it," said Donny Newsome whose mother is stocking up on meat at Renna's Meat Market in Fresno as she does every month for her family of five.
Like so many it is already a struggle making ends meet, so the threat of meat prices going up is not a welcomed thought.
The price increase is coming from an unlikely source: snow in the Midwest. Road closures are causing access problems to meat processing plants.
"The big storms are causing them to not allow workers to get to work and same with the cattle. They can't get the cattle to the slaughter houses either, so it's a total standstill," said Joey Renna of Renna's Meat Market. "Anytime there's a shortage in meat the price will go up."
Renna said his two local distributors gave him a heads up last week about the price hike. His prices at his market do not yet reflect the increase, but an increase from ten to fifty cents per pound is coming.
"It can definitely add up, especially with a big purchase. It can add up to a decent amount of money," said Renna.
Take, for example, the Newsome's purchase. $99 for 50 pounds of meat would cost about $5 to $25 more with the increase.
"You just gotta have faith through these tough times, that's it," said Newsome.
Renna has that same faith in his customers. "We try to keep it as minimal as possible, everyone likes our products so we don't see many complaints."
He's confident he'll weather this storm, just as he has every other one the past ten years he's been in business.
As another winter snowstorm blasts through parts of the Midwest and no relief in sight, the price hike could come to meat markets as early as next week.
TXT 24
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