Gottheimer announces new legislation to lower grocery costs for families

NEW JERSEY – U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) Monday visited Cafasso’s Fairway Market in Fort Lee to announce new concrete steps a part of his Affordability Agenda for Jersey to help get grocery prices down for Jersey families, particularly for meat, poultry, and eggs.

Gottheimer is introducing legislation in Congress to help lower the cost of a family’s grocery bill, tackle rising food prices and the supply chain crisis, and take action against any meat or poultry companies that are colluding and making profits on the backs of hard-working middle class families.

Gottheimer is also calling on President Trump to immediately reverse his decision to halt all communication at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the recent Bird Flu outbreak that is driving costs up for families. In a letter to the President, Gottheimer demands federal agencies restore communication with grocers, farmers, and producers and calls for a coordinated government response to help contain and solve this outbreak.

Rising Food and Grocery Prices

• Egg prices are up 37% from a year ago, according to the Labor Department.
  • The average cost was $2.51 a year ago, compared to $4.15 today.
  • In the New York metro area, the average cost for a dozen eggs is $6.72.
• The four largest meat-packing processors control 85 percent of the market.
• In 2024, beef prices increased by more than 10% compared to the year before.
  • In just one month, from this past November to December, the price of bacon and breakfast sausage rose 2%.
  • The Agriculture Department expects higher pork and beef prices in 2025 — as meatpackers cut back on their production.
• The Bird Flu outbreak has killed more than 136 million birds in the last nine months and 30 million in just the last three months
  • This is roughly 10 percent of the nation’s egg-laying population that has been lost in the last 90 days —  driving up the price of eggs and poultry.

Gottheimer’s New Steps to Lower Food Costs

• Gottheimer is introducing new legislation — the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act — that will direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to appoint a special investigator to strictly enforce price-fixing laws for the meat packing industry and do everything they can to encourage new meat producers to enter the market.
  • Gottheimer’s bill would help create much-needed competition in the meat and poultry industry, strengthen the food supply chain, and lower food prices for Jersey families.
• Gottheimer is calling on President Trump to immediately reverse his decision to halt all communication at the CDC on the recent Bird Flu outbreak that is driving costs up for families.
  • In his letter, Gottheimer demands federal agencies restore communication with grocers, farmers, and producers and calls for a coordinated government response to help contain and solve this outbreak.
• Gottheimer is introducing the Lower Grocery Prices Act — a bill that will require the federal government to create a comprehensive national plan to combat high prices and deliver critical relief to families struggling with everyday costs.

“It has become increasingly expensive for our local markets, like this one, to serve our communities — raising the cost for our families to buy groceries or to eat out at the local diner. We must do more to make life more affordable and stop food and grocery costs from eating into the budgets of Jersey families,” said Gottheimer. “That’s why today, as part of my Affordability Agenda for Jersey, I am announcing new steps to help increase our food production, contain the Bird Flu outbreak, and get the price of groceries down for our families. We can’t let higher costs just pull up a seat at the kitchen table and steal from our families — we must again work together to deliver for Jersey.”