Eastern European countries were upset a few years ago when it was discovered that food marketers were retailing lower quality foods in their region of Europe versus countries in the west. Price was not discussed but that differentiation would have followed willingness to pay and the fact that more affluent consumers live in the west. Despite being a single market, food prices are highly varied across Europe. They are also highly varied across the U.S. It has been observed that fruits and vegetables are lower quality in the U.S. south because consumers elsewhere were willing/able to pay more for better quality. USDA’s Food-at-Home regional prices data affirms what can be intuitively assumed: food is generally more expensive in Los Ang...

TAGS – North America, Macroeconomics