Food prices to jump in 2013, long-term care industry expert warns

Food prices to jump in 2013, long-term care industry expert warns

Long-term care facilities should prepare to pay more for food in 2013, with prices going up as much as 4%, according to a prominent voice in the industry.

A variety of factors – including the severe drought that devastated crops in 2012 - will likely lead to rising costs for dietary in the coming year, said Michael Greenfield, CEO of Prime Source, which handles purchasing for long-term care and assisted living facilities nationwide.

“Shifts in global weather patterns, the drought in the United States, inflation and instability in the Middle East will all affect the prices you'll be paying for everything, from eggs and milk to fresh produce and beef,” Greenfield said in a statement released Monday by Prime Source.

Greenfield's prediction is in line with numbers from the American Farm Bureau Federation, which on Friday predicted food prices to go up 3% to 4% in 2013.

While providers might not be able to escape the budgetary strains caused by food price inflation, the recently passed fiscal cliff deal provided some good news for the long-term care sector. The legislation stabilized dairy prices in danger of spiking absent the passage of a farm bill.