The cost of food is going up faster than it has in nearly 20 years and each expensive item is making the next one more costly in sort of a vicious breakfast-price cycle. "Corn, wheat, soybean that is what's used to feed cattle, hogs. Obviously it pushes higher prices through the entire system," said Mike Santoli with Barron's Financial Magazine.
Wheat prices are up because some farmers planted corn instead. It's more profitable to produce corn since it's used to make ethanol, an alternative to gas.
Record oil prices also mean it's more expensive to truck the food to the grocery store. Economists say they can't predict when or how the cycle will end.
