For Scranton resident Katie Ezdebski, trips to the grocery store look a lot different these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each shopping excursion takes far more preparation than in years past: What can she afford to buy? What meals won\u2019t cost too much to make? Which stores have the best prices?<\/p>\n
Grocery costs are rising amid President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a> and the war in Iran<\/a>. Cash-strapped Pennsylvanians say surging prices are leaving their families reeling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as how I shop, it\u2019s led it to become much more involved as far as planning before you go to the store,\u201d said Ezdebski, the mother of an 11th grader and the full-time caregiver for her husband, who has had several strokes and has early-onset dementia. \u201cThe process of making sure my budget\u2019s going to fit what I need, and having that list and sticking to that list where, you know, three or four years ago I didn\u2019t really do that as much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ezdebski was one of a group of Pennsylvanians who shared their experiences grappling with rising food costs during an Oct. 20 forum organized by Affordable Pennsylvania<\/a>, an organization that works to educate the public about how federal policy affects everyday life. They spoke of the daily stressors they face trying to feed their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would say maybe five to seven years ago, with $100 I would walk out of the store feeling OK; I did pretty well,\u201d said Doris Gray, who lives in Easton with her husband and grandson and is a healthcare worker in Bethlehem. \u201cBut now I\u2019m just walking out of the store with maybe one bag, one and a half bags of groceries, and it\u2019s just ridiculous now. It really is \u2014 and it\u2019s scary because it makes me feel like, OK, if it\u2019s like this now, what\u2019s going to happen next year? What\u2019s going to happen a few months from now? It\u2019s getting really bad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Aidalis Martinez, a stay-at-home mom from Bethlehem, agreed: \u201c$100 gets you absolutely nothing nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow are we supposed to get the vegetables and the fruits and the meat and the basic necessities, eggs, that we need?\u201d Martinez asked. \u201cYou have the prices going crazy, and then on top of that, you have recalls going crazy, and I\u2019m just tired. I\u2019m tired of wondering if I\u2019m feeding my family correctly, if I can feed my family correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n Rick Boyko, a retired construction worker who financially supports his daughter and grandson, both of whom live with him, tries to cut costs by growing vegetables in his garden. While that certainly helps, he said, he can\u2019t avoid the rising prices at the grocery store.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI always shop the discount rack before I go to the regular part of the store,\u201d Boyko said. \u201cSo if I can save a dollar here or a dollar there, I can add something extra to the budget. But it\u2019s difficult. It\u2019s difficult when you\u2019re feeding yourself, let alone other family members.\u201d<\/p>\n Pennsylvanians have had to pay an extra $5,100 for goods and services during Trump\u2019s second term, including an additional $310 for groceries, according<\/a> to an October fact sheet published by the Democratic members of the congressional Joint Economic Committee. One in seven<\/a> Pennsylvanians face food insecurity, according to the organization Feeding Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2025, congressional Republicans passed<\/a> and President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a tax and spending bill that included cuts to safety net programs. According<\/a> to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis updated in September 2026, 235,748 Pennsylvanians lost benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, between July 2025 and August 2026. As of September, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, about 1.7 million<\/a> Pennsylvanians, including more than 650,000 children, were receiving federal food assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n