Time to go vegetarian? Cost of chicken and ground beef hit record highs.

If you ve ever considered going vegetarian now might be the time to make the jump to a meat-free diet Chicken and ground beef notched record-breaking prices in June continuing their climb as feed and production costs rise along with demand But while the cost of chicken has increased more steadily beef prices have surged rapidly jumping nearly year-over-year according to the latest facts from the consumer price index Still sticker shock isn t confined to the supermarket aisle several Americans are also seeing jaw-dropping power bills Last month the average cost of electricity hit cents per kilowatt-hour for the first time ever and natural gas prices are the highest they ve been in more than two years Those details points are reflected in the fact that inflation is rising across the board Consumer prices are about higher than they were in June last year an increase economists largely attribute to President Donald Trump s sweeping tariffs pushing costs skyward And with higher import taxes on more than counties set to take effect next month it may not be the last time the price of consumer goods and services tips the scale The Tribune is tracking everyday costs for Americans eggs milk bread bananas oranges tomatoes chicken ground beef gasoline electricity and natural gas and how they are changing or not under the second Trump administration This tracker is updated monthly using CPI content from the U S Bureau of Labor Statistics Eggs Egg prices have dropped for a third month straight falling another month-over-month Now for a dozen large Grade A eggs June marked the first time the nationwide average registered below since November The decline in egg prices is likely due to a decrease in bird flu cases in commercial and backyard flocks since the start of the year In the first two months of tens of million of birds were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza across states according to U S Department of Agriculture information As of June the virus was detected in less than U S birds with those cases concentrated in only two states Arizona and Idaho At the moment the cost of eggs is about less than it was before Trump took office Milk It s not just poultry flocks and wild birds that have been affected by bird flu According to the Centers for Malady Control and Prevention the virus has been shared in dairy cows since March But like poultry cases the number of newly infected dairy cows is dropping with just two cases recorded last month As of June a gallon of fresh fortified whole milk would set you back about That price is cents lower than it was in the last month of the administration of President Joe Biden and up only from a year ago Bread Various good news for carb-lovers The cost of bread is at a two-and-a-half-year low As of June white bread was priced at per pound Bananas The cost of bananas fell slightly from May s all-time highs dropping just a fraction of a cent to per pound Inflated costs are likely a byproduct of Trump s pact war The United States relies on banana-growers like Guatemala Ecuador Costa Rica Honduras and Mexico for billions of pounds of fruit but right now all are subject to an import tax of at least Oranges Orange prices went up in June and likely will continue on this upward trend in the coming months This however has little to do with any policies from the current administration Like countless citrus fruits the cost of oranges is heavily tied to the harvesting season As we exit orange season supplies will decrease coinciding with an increase in demand thus triggering higher prices This is standard for the fruit sphere with oranges cheapest in the winter months then increasing in cost throughout the late spring and summer and eventually peaking in September or October each year At this moment the average price per pound for navel oranges is nationwide Tomatoes The cost of field-grown tomatoes is approximately per pound That price is cents higher than the previous month and down roughly since Trump took power This change however is largely due to the growing season Like oranges tomato prices vary depending on the time of year rising in the fall peaking in the early winter months and then plummeting in the spring But there may soon be movement outside the typical pricing seasonality On Monday the Trump administration released it was placing a tariff on Mexican-grown tomatoes which make up the vast majority of all tomatoes eaten and sold in the U S Still as of June prices were down nearly from the same time last year Chicken The average cost of fresh whole chicken jumped cents month-over-month landing at an all-time high of per pound So why the price spike It could be a outcome of rising feed costs the lingering effects of bird flu on the supply chain or that more drastic increases in beef prices are driving a shift in consumer demand toward cheaper meat options like chicken Ground Beef Amid peak backyard barbecue season ground beef prices are trending upward Now per pound the average price of ground beef chuck hit record highs for the fifth consecutive month surging roughly since the start of the year The rising cost can be attributed to a confluence of factors The U S cattle inventory is the lowest it s been in almost years and severe drought in parts of the country has further reduced the feed supply according to the U S Department of Agriculture Supply challenges and rising feed costs stateside means the country is importing more beef But beef and cattle sourced from other nations isn t necessarily a cheaper alternative New tariff rates on top beef importers like Mexico Canada and Brazil will take effect on Aug raising the countries already steep import taxes to and respectively With increased costs both locally and abroad this may not be the last time shoppers see record beef prices this year Electricity At cents per kilowatt-hour the current price of electricity is the highest on record going back more than years Month-over-month changes in electric costs typically register at a fraction of a cent with the difference from May to June about eight-tenths of a cent But that doesn t mean consumers won t feel it in their pocketbooks Last month s fractional increase represents a change and according to ComEd the primary electric utility in Chicago the average price for residential customers was expected to go up per month in June Nationally electricity has already been at record prices since January and with long hot summer days ahead bulk Americans won t see lower rates on their bills anytime soon In an effort to mitigate rising costs ComEd in recent months launched a million relief fund for particular low-income customers Gasoline The cost of gasoline saw no change from May remaining at per gallon of regular unleaded in June Prices in Chicago tell a different story At the cost of gas in the city went up roughly month-over-month and hovers around cents higher than the national average according to content from the U S Resource Information Administration Both locally and nationally gasoline prices are up more than under the Trump administration Natural Gas The nationwide cost of piped utility gas or natural gas averages at per therm That price is holding at a two-year high and is up nearly since President Biden left office