The End of Cheap Corn?

Check out this interactive graphic in the New York Times about price changes in the last year. Absolutely fascinating.

Note that all those shades of blue mean price decreases, while the warm colors (pinks, reds, and golds) mean price increases. And if you zoom in on the Food and Drink section, note that the blues are things like meat and vegetables (and, yes, carbonated drinks), while the reds and golds are breads and cereal products.

Finally, the price of grain is catching up with things like the price of lettuce.

And did you catch how much peanut butter, rice, and pasta prices have gone up in one year? Makes me wonder if people will continue to think of these as cheap foods …

This is a pretty nifty diagram, but I wish it went further. I’d love to see, for example, differences in price between grass-fed meat and CAFO meat, or local produce vs. giant agribusiness.