The pandemic has messed up our food supply. After the well-publicized issues at meat processing plants, the supply chains for all types of food also have struggled as folks stayed away from restaurants and cooked more at home. I'm not sure what led to what there- maybe partly from supply chain disruptions, but also due to issues like drought in South America, in the end food prices have climbed. This article identifies many of the causes such as a spike in the price of palm oil (did you know that palm oil is in half of all supermarket products?). The UN's FAO index has food at a recent high, though not yet approaching the ridiculous levels it hit in 2011. Hopefully it comes back down, particularly for those hard hit by COVID. While food isn't a huge share of our household budgets, the story is different in poorer countries, and it could make a huge difference there.
Update 1/18: Just came across this article on palm oil. I've heard so much bad about its negative environmental consequences and just assumed it's pretty bad nutritionally. Well, it seems like it's a fat: not great for you, but not much worse than coconut oil, for example, and indeed some sources of it more sustainable. I should be more agnostic and less judgmental!
