Americans spend less of their income on food than almost ever. Why doesn’t it feel that way?

Grocery prices are a current measure of Engel’s Law. | Osaka Wayne Studios/Getty Images Everything about the American economy right now feels weird. The hiring picture is weird; the stock market is weird; and AI infusion into work is very, very weird.  But here’s a number that, if you think hard enough, is stranger — at least historically — than all the rest: 10.4 percent. That’s the share of their disposable income that Americans spent on food in 2024, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service. That’s groceries, restaurants, even the occasional ill-advised 11 pm burrito deli...

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