May 28, 2008 — It costs significantly more to eat on St. Thomas than almost any place in the United States, based on a snapshot of food prices in comparison with those in one of the highest-priced cities on the mainland.
Prices average 50 percent higher on St. Thomas than in Washington, D.C., according to an independent survey of 63 basic food products conducted by the former director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the V.I. Department of Labor (DOL).
"Washington, D.C., has very high food prices, so we're comparing our food prices with a high city, and we're still coming up 50 percent higher," said Dave Barber, who conducted the survey as a personal project to see how prices compare.
Barber priced food at two major grocery stores in Washington and at the two major grocery stores on St. Thomas, excluding bulk discount stores, then averaged the prices together for each locale. He compared such things as juice, bologna, corn flakes and bread, as well as meat and produce.
The product surveyed with the greatest price disparity was orange juice, costing an average of $1.58 per half gallon in D.C. compared to $5.09 on St. Thomas. Staples purchased on St. Thomas, such as hot dogs, corn flakes and a loaf of bread, each cost more than double the price paid in the nation's capital.
Only four of the 63 items Barber surveyed cost less on St. Thomas. They were canned tuna fish, apples, lemons and tomatoes.
"It was quite surprising when I saw tomatoes," Barber said. "I can't explain that one."
The overall price differential of 50 percent between Washington, D.C., and St. Thomas exceeds the 32 and 33 percent variance he reported in September 1997 and July 1990, when Barber conducted these surveys during his tenure at the DOL. Barber noted that those surveys included average prices for St. Croix, which he said typically has slightly lower food prices than St. Thomas. Nevertheless, he said, the gap has widened.
"Something is wrong because things like bananas are cheaper in Washington than they are here," Barber said. "Mangoes in Washington are four for three dollars. In the supermarket here they are $1.50 each."
The present director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Gary Halyard, said he couldn't comment on Barber's survey, calling it an independent project and not one authorized by his department.
"The best barometer to see how we're doing is the cost of living in the territory, the consumer price index (CPI), from the Bureau of Economic Research," Halyard said.
Calls to the Bureau of Economic Research, a division of the Economic Development Authority, were not returned. The most recent CPI information for the territory posted on the bureau's website was from 2004.
Barber claims the survey methods he used are based on a pricing program established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics where a selected standardized list of commodities is monitored in the territory and on the mainland. He gathered the prices during the week of May 19.
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