Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 25, 2026
What this site is
Real Cost of Food is a static informational website. We do not operate accounts, logins, or user profiles, and we do not collect or store any personal information you submit — because there is no form or submission mechanism on this site.
Analytics
We may use third-party analytics (such as Google Analytics) to understand aggregate traffic patterns — pages visited, approximate geography, and referring sources. This data is collected anonymously and is not linked to you personally. You can opt out via your browser's Do Not Track setting or a browser extension such as uBlock Origin.
Advertising
This site may display ads served by Google AdSense. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this site and other sites on the internet. You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
Cookies
This site itself sets no first-party cookies. Third-party services (Google Analytics, Google AdSense) may set their own cookies as described in their respective privacy policies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings at any time.
Data sources
All price, nutrition, and sustainability data displayed on this site comes from public federal datasets (BLS, USDA FoodData Central) and published academic research. No user data is used to generate or personalize this content.
External links
This site links to external sources (BLS, USDA, academic papers). We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites.
Children
This site is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page.