Food and Agricultural Economist. Associate Professor at Michigan State University @MSUAFRE. Food Marketing, Agricultural Development, China. Immigrant 🇻🇪🇺🇸
Aug 21, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
A brief 120-year history of #food prices (🧵)
In 1901, the average US family spent $327 on food that year. That was roughly 43% of their total expenditures.
Flour 🌾 $0.13/5lbs
Steak 🥩 $0.14/lb
Bacon 🥓 $0.16/lb
Eggs 🥚 $0.22/dozen
Milk 🥛 $0.14/half gal
1/n
By 1918, avg family incomes had doubled. Households spent 75% more for #food ($549), but the expenditure share had decreased to 38%.
Flour 🌾 $0.34/5lbs
Steak 🥩 $0.37/lb
Bacon 🥓 $0.53/lb
Eggs 🥚 $0.57/dozen
Milk 🥛 $0.28/half gal
2/n
Apr 2, 2020 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
In light of #COVID19, the ideas that most Americans have about Chinese #food preferences, and eating habits are far from reality. I find them dangerous as they fuel #sinophobia, and distract from addressing real problems. 1/n
I came across the following piece in @ConversationEDU which echoes my earlier thoughts on wet markets in #China 🇨🇳 and #COVID19. It is written by two anthropologists and provides an excellent perspective. Here are some additional thoughts... 2/n
China’s food markets, wildlife trade and origins of #COVID19: A thread
As a PhD student, I spent countless hours in #China’s wet markets gathering data on consumer behavior and #food safety. Here are a few thoughts: 1/n
Wet markets typically sell fresh meat, fish, produce and other perishables. Historically, animals were killed on-site to ensure freshness and water was used to clean the area. Hence the term “wet market”. They are very different from #wildlife markets 2/n
