Mike Bird, Asia business and finance editor at The Economist, shares expert insights on global food price dynamics, revealing how Russian wheat exports are influencing market stability. Meanwhile, Slavia Chankova, the publication's health correspondent, discusses the alarming resurgence of polio in the West, emphasizing vaccination challenges. They also explore the controversies surrounding the viral 'Pink Sauce,' highlighting the difficulties cottage food producers face in a social media-driven world.
The worst predictions for costs have not come to pass, partly because Russia is selling plenty of wheat. But plenty of food-price woe may still await. We examine the curious re-appearance of the polio virus in the West. And the trials of “Pink Sauce” reveal the perils of being a cottage-food producer—or consumer—in the social-media age.