b"were affecting corn and soybean prices.survey has yet to see an increase in food Now, it's in the West. The drought issuesinsecurity from participants, he believes are affecting some commodities that arethat worsened food insecurity through-grown out in that part of the country,out the U.S is a very real possibility.continues Lusk. Its a broad set of issuesLower income households spendnot a single thingbut a combinationa higher share of their income on food. of factors that are all coming together toFood price increases do tend to dispro-contribute to those higher prices. portionately affect lower income house-holds, says Lusk.Consumers Feel the Pressure ofPart of the reason that food insecurity Inflation has not hit the U.S. yet despite inflation The extreme jump in prices have notcould be the expansion of SNAP ben-gone unnoticed by consumers, especiallyefits, he believes. SNAP and additional those that physically go to the groceryresources for lower income households store to do their shopping. act as the federal governments safety net People that do grocery shoppingPeople going to grocery stores noticeto try and catch those that are at risk of notice inflation way more than everybodyinflation more than anyone, says Michellebeing food insecure. else. If you go and buy the same items,Klieger.A factor that is actively combating you know how much they are, explainsthose efforts is the disproportionate rise Klieger. So, if you are seeing the pricebetween wages and the food sector, as increase in a short period of time, you'rethe increase in prices have outpaced the feeling this inflation. When you go to theincrease in wages.grocery store, you buy a whole basket ofWhat we've seen is that consumers goods, so it feels like everything is morebuying power has fallen in the general expensive. economy. People's buying power over For example, how often do you buyfood has fallen. That's another area where a new book where you notice that it wentyou start to worry a little bit about things from $18 to $20? Because these priceslike food security, adds Lusk.have been going upand they're goingRising grocery bills and the loss of up faster than overall inflation in the U.S.consumer buying power are not onlyit feels like inflation is worse. That isconcerns in the U.S.inflation has also making consumers more aware of infla- touched countries across the globe.tion, she concludes. For example, Klieger notes that one When prices initially increased, con- of the major sources of fat in low-income sumers were just paying more, revealedcountries is vegetable oil.Consumer Food Insights, a monthlyWith reopening and supplies offline in survey conducted by Lusk with col- Food is currently the No. 1 issue causingMalaysia, we saw a huge increase in price. leagues at Purdue. At the beginningstress across all consumers, says JaysonFried food in America can afford the oil of this year, a majority of consumersLusk.when other countries can't. There were a answered the question, How are youlot of implications for diet, she says. The responding to the increase in food pricesWe're starting to see evidence thatsame thing happened with Ukraine. A lot that youve seen over the past year? withthe higher prices are beginning to haveof the Black Sea region wheat goes to a simple answerno change.an impact. Another question we asked inNorthern Africa, and so there was a lot of That reflects what I was saying earlierour survey last month was Which areasconcern about political instability becausethat consumers had built up savings.of your household budget are causing theof food prices there.The economy was humming along prettymost stress? And there's a list of aboutFor commodities that are traded at an well, so people were just paying the12 items or so. Food was the number oneinternational level, countries all pay the higher prices, but they weren't really cut- issue across all consumers in terms ofsame price, despite the fact that some ting back, says Lusk. what was most stressful, says Lusk. countries can afford a lot more than As consumers notice prices goingothers. Despite geographical differences, up, they tend to shift towards differentFood Insecurity Could Worsen in themany consumers are struggling to adjust products, which is reflected in the sur- U.S. and Beyond to increased prices.veys more recent results. When the sameMany people have burned through theirWhat we've seen is that, in the last question was asked around a month ago,savings and are now facing a tighterfew months as inflation has increased, the most common response was, look- household budget. For those who wereprice sensitivity has increased. Consumers ing for sales and discounts. The secondalready lower income households, thehave become more price sensitive, con-response was, switching to generics. jump could be devastating. While Luskscludes Lusk.SW74/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2022"