Rising grocery prices are costing students more money
As the cost of groceries goes up, students are realizing the amount they have to pay for food is rising alongside it.
According to Education Data Initiative, students in California pay an average of $293 a month just for groceries. This does not include the amount students spend on eating out or school meal plans.
According to Nerdwallet, rising prices are due to many different factors like high operating costs for businesses and the rising cost of materials.
One item that has seen a significant price increase — eggs.
“I know that eggs have definitely gone up,” Fresno State student Marcus Wenrick said. “People were saying that, ‘oh [President Trump’s] going to get the eggs down to two or $3,’ that has not been the case. Mine, because they’re local, tend to stay around the same prices, but there are definitely some upticks there.”
Avian Influenza is just one, but major, reason egg prices have been rising. If even one chicken on a farm contracts the virus the entire flock has to be put down to avoid contamination.
According to Better Health Channel some common symptoms of the bird flu virus include shortness of breath, fever, cough and headache. Bird flu can also lead to death if left untreated.
However, this price increase is not limited to eggs. According to the USDA, the overall cost for groceries was about 2% higher in January of 2025 compared to January 2024.
There are resouces on campus to help studens with the rising cost of groceries.
The Amendola Family Student Cupboard, located in the Industrial Technology building room 144, offers students free groceries ranging from snacks and canned goods, to essential items like milk and even eggs.
“The goal or the mission is really to address food insecurity on campus and what that means is maybe students don’t have the funds to purchase food,” food security project coordinator Michael Ballin said. “And so we’re trying to be kinda that supplemental resource for students.”
This service is only available to students who are currently enrolled in the semester, but many people utilize the cupboard because it helps them save money that would otherwise be spent buying groceries.
“We probably see about, I want to say 2,000 to 2,500 a week. If you break that down, that’s about four to 500 a day as far as unique students or student visits,” Ballin said.
The Student Cupboard is open Monday through Friday with different times each day.
If you would like to know what specific times you can visit or have any other questions, you can check out the Amendola Family Student Cupboard.