Crook County grocery prices among highest in U.S.

A study of grocery store prices across the nation shows that one of the most expensive spots to buy groceries is right here in Central Oregon.

The study by “Feeding America” shows the average cost for a meal bought from grocery stores across the country.

And Crook County is the highest — not just in the state of Oregon, but across the country.

In Crook County, a family pays an average of $5.61 per meal.

Compare that to Jefferson County’s $3.55, and Deschutes County, where it costs $3.24 for a meal bought at a grocery store.

John Amodeo, the manager of Erickson’s Thriftway in Prineville, says he has to work with the price that’s set by his suppliers, and then from there, he sets his price for the customer in order to keep the store operating.

“If my wholesaler sells it to me cheaper, you’ll see signs on my shelf where I sell it to my customers cheaper,” Amodeo said. “But I operate off the same margin.”

Amodeo said Crook County is unique as well, because there’s no high-volume highway that runs through the city and there are fewer grocery stores in the county, compared to the neighboring counties.

Amodeo said he takes pride in working hard to make sure he’s offering the lowest price he can to the customer.

Bob Pugmire has lived in Prineville for the past 23 years. He said he has seen prices get higher, and now they are as high as they have ever been.

Pugmire said he now has to be extremely mindful when shopping.

“Lot’s of coupons — lots and lots of coupons,” Pugmire said. “And that’s what we do, we try to make that happen, and we kind of figure out what we really need and what we really don’t need.”

Pugmire said he was not shocked that Crook County was high on the list of grocery store prices.

He said he’d love to see another bigger grocery store move in that might provide some competition and help drive prices lower.

That is exactly what County Judge Seth Crawford believes would help reduce grocery prices.

“Another reason why we need to be working to diversify our economy, to bring more businesses in here and build more competition between stores,” Crawford said. “That’s what’s going to drive the price down.”

Other contributing factors to high prices are wholesalers setting the prices higher, as well as transportation fees to get to more rural areas.

Crawford added that he hopes with the growth of the county they will soon see prices drop.

How much do you spend a week on groceries? That’s our new KTVZ.COM Poll. Find it halfway down the right side of our home page.