The latest report from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations risks conveying an overly optimistic interpretation of global food security to the press and the public when it concludes that, although nominal food prices grew by more than 28% between 2020 and 2021, they remain below their 2012 peak (see go.nature.com/3rrojmc). This is not the case for ‘real’ food prices, which take inflation factors into account. I argue that focusing on real, rather than nominal, food prices is a better indicator of food accessibility.

Nature 602, 33 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00221-4

Related Articles

• See more letters to the editor
  
  

Subjects

• Agriculture
• Economics