The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects food prices to soar 5 percent on average this year, marking the highest single-year surge since 2008, which is set to leave Americans forking out more for everyday food essentials. In its monthly Food Price Outlook, the USDA said it has raised its estimate following two months of price surges “across many of the food categories.” The department attributed the price hike to the “impacts of the conflict in Ukraine and the recent increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve” which it said are expected to “put upward and downward pressures on food prices.” Increased prices will affect everything from basic items such as meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, to fresh fruits, sweets, cereals, and bakery products, and nonalcoholic beverages, according to the department. It also noted that there have been historically low levels of frozen chicken stocks in recent months as well as an ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza …