Ryan, a Democrat from the 18th District, met with about a dozen restaurant owners, union reps, daycare managers and chamber heads at the Alexis Diner in Newburgh. On the docket were a range of rising expenses in the region, from housing to childcare, but food costs monopolized the conversation.
George Moustakas owns the I-84 Diner in Fishkill. He says the price of a single crate of eggs went from about $45 to $260 in recent months.
“It comes out to a couple thousands dollars a week in extra costs. I cannot always raise prices just like that. I mean, you can, but eventually guests will push back."
Americans have been grappling with inflation for a few years now, but egg prices reached record highs this winter amid an ongoing bird flu outbreak nationwide. Prices have since started to drop, but Moustakas still wants the federal government to investigate. He’s skeptical over whether the bird flu is really to blame for the price increase, suggesting to Ryan that egg suppliers could be using the flu to price gouge customers.
“I was never told in the restaurant, all these couple of months, that I cannot have eggs, that there’s no eggs for the restaurant. No company has ever told me that," Moustakas explains. "But they did tell me the price was higher. So, if there was such a shortage, why was I never told there's no eggs?”
Ryan, for his part, says there are bipartisan talks in Congress right now on whether to investigate the situation. He’s re-introduced his “Lower Grocery Prices Act” with Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican from the 17th District, which would require the U.S. Government Accountability Office to analyze food prices over the last 20 years and develop solutions.
Other business owners Tuesday said efforts at the federal level that are making them nervous. The Trump Administration has been working to cut federal spending and pivot away from renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels. Farmer Rick Osofsky, with Ronnybrook Farm in Dutchess County, says he recently received a letter from the government stating the farm will not, in fact, be getting the roughly $500,000 grant it was promised to go solar in 2023. But he says most of the work has already been done.
“And there's no one to talk to. What the administration has said — and I’m not trying to be political — is that they’re not taking money away from any of the individual applicants who were awarded the money," he adds. "But we’re one of those people.”
Ralph Erenzo, meanwhile, worries how President Trump’s escalating trade war with other countries will impact his Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery in Gardiner. Over the years, he’s grown the distillery to the point where it now exports whiskey to multiple European countries. But the European Union recently proposed a 50 percent tariff on U.S. whiskey in response to Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Now, Trump has threatened to escalate things further with a 200 percent tariff on E.U. wine and liquor.
“If this suggestion of a 200 percent excise tax on imports goes through, that will mean that all of that work will have been wasted," says Erenzo. "Because those people won’t pay it. They just won’t pay it.”
Speaking after the event, Ryan says he’s still optimistic lawmakers can work across the aisle to address food costs nationwide. He says he wanted to have this meeting to hear directly from local businesses, and while he isn’t necessarily surprised by what he heard, he is moved by it.
“When you hear the specifics, it’s a gut punch," he says. "And when you hear Tuthilltown, another one of our great success stories, say that tariffs and excise taxes would be hugely harmful, I think it’s really important for people in the community to understand that this isn’t theoretical or hypothetical — these are real, great businesses that we all love, that employ our family and our friends, and are now at real risk.”
