Dr. David Ortega, holder of the Noel W. Stuckman Chair in Food Economics and Policy at Michigan State University, joins CAST for a Meet the Expert conversation on food price inflation — what’s driving it, who’s bearing the cost, and what to expect next.
Ortega has testified before the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, and made over 400 media appearances across the New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, and PBS NewsHour. He is the 2025 recipient of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award.
In this session:
- Why food price inflation is a convergence of factors — not a single cause
- The difference between the inflation rate and the price level (and why it matters)
- How tariffs, the Iran conflict, bird flu, drought, and trade uncertainty are layered on top of each other
- Why there’s a 6-month lag between producer cost shocks and what you pay at the grocery store
- Why food prices almost never come down — and what that means for consumers
- Less than 10 cents of every grocery dollar goes back to the farm
- Who is absorbing the most: low-income households, the data on trading down, and what’s happening to SNAP
- Tomatoes as a case study: weather, a 17% tariff on Mexican imports, and rising fuel costs
- The USDA food price outlook for 2026
- What policymakers can actually control — and what they can’t
▶ Watch the full session: https://www.youtube.com/live/cX-zxaDf1r4
