Futurity

Will food prices keep rising during the pandemic?

An expert breaks down how the pandemic has affected the food system, from restaurants struggling to get by to spiking food prices.
A strawberry sails through blue sky

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the people who buy and sell food, including constraining supplies, spiking prices, and hurting restaurants.

“The food economy has been incredibly resilient so far, but now that we’re more than half a year into this pandemic, the cracks are really starting to show,” says Trey Malone, an assistant professor of agriculture, food, and resource economics in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.

“For me, one of the biggest pandemic concerns always has been food security for lower-income households. Households that earn less than $20,000 spend nearly 40% of their income on food, and households that earn $20,000-$39,000 spend more than 20%,” he says.

“Even a small increase in food prices can mean that these people will confront difficult decisions.”

Here, Malone answers questions about the economics of food in the coming months and how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect typical seasonal patterns:

The post Will food prices keep rising during the pandemic? appeared first on Futurity.

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