Grassroots Farm Bureau members are invited to participate June 1-7 in American Farm Bureau’s Summer Cookout Survey of retail food prices commonly used to prepare a cookout meal for 10 people. The survey tracks prices on commonly found foods including ground beef, American cheese, hamburger buns, chicken breasts, pork chops, potatoes, onions, celery, eggs, canned pork & beans, strawberries, lemons, sugar, chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.
Survey results will be used for a July Fourth national publicity campaign on the retail cost of food that emphasizes its relatively small increase in price over time compared to other consumer goods, as well as the contribution of U.S. food, fiber and fuel production to national security.
How You Can Help
- Between June 1-7, complete a mobile-friendly web survey, available at Org/CookoutSurvey. Please note: this link will be active starting June 1 and closes June 7 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
- You may visit a grocery store in person, if you wish, or check prices using a grocery store app or website.
- Starting June 24, re-share social media posts and graphics about the survey results, including information about the farmers’ share of the retail food dollar.
Survey Tips
- It’s easy to open the link to the survey on any mobile device or tablet, then input retail prices while walking around a grocery store. For the best experience, do not use your browser’s back button while filling in the survey or open the survey in multiple tabs (you might lose the data you’ve entered).
- List the lowest-cost product in the store for each item.
- Prices for store brand (generic) foods are fine.
- Do not use promotional coupons or special deals such as “buy one-get one free.”
- If you can’t find an item in the size/weight specified, indicate the size or weight of the item most like it and its price. For example: the survey asks for the price of a 5-pound bag of potatoes. If potatoes are available only in 3-pound bags in your store, make a note of that along with the price.
- If you absolutely can’t find a survey item, consider taking a look at circulars/flyers from other stores in the area and input the lowest offered price.
- When you are done entering prices, scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the SUBMIT button.
