The Russian invasion on Ukraine, the pandemic, and the recession are all reasons why the food prices are going up. Russia invading Ukraine resulted in food sanctions that restriced some supply. The pandemic resulted in food insecurity by meat-packing lay offs and closings. Another factor that may not be realized is truck driver shortages.
The pandemic closed a lot of meat factories and lost a lot of workers, making food shortages rise and prices along with it. Tightened food supply has had a hard time competing with consistent and even rising demand from the growing population. The inflation ramping everything up and companies not raising labor wages is creating a dynamic that is shifting heavily into costs that can't be kept up with.
