Election has ripple effect on consumer food demand: report

Consumers were significantly less likely to pay for food across several categories in November and last week's elections may have contributed to the sharp decline, according to Oklahoma State University's latest Food Demand Survey (FooDS) monthly survey.  Ag economists say the decline in willingess-to-pay may reflect “post-election uncertainty,” as the surveys were completed just two and three days after the Nov. 8th vote. For meat products, the drop in willingness-to-pay was greatest for chicken wings — after an increase that category a month ago — with a 19.5 percent decline, to $2.07 per pound. Next-largest was steak, with a 13.4 percent drop to $6.77 per pound.