Food continues to become increasingly expensive. According to the headline story in today?s El Caribe, the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) has reported that the cost of basic goods and services for a middle income family reached RD$14,814 in the month of April, up 63% in relation to costs just a year earlier. This means a family needs RD$5,725 more to purchase the same things. The situation is even more difficult when devaluation, tabulated at 78.75, is added to the mix. The UN study revealed that 89% of employees cannot purchase the average family basket. The UN says that 43.5% of family income is being spent on food, about 8% on clothes, 3.5% on medicines and 12.6% on transportation. Housing, furnishings and education take a little over 13% of the family budget.