2023 in a blink: How food inflation affected India and the world this year

The year 2023 saw a fair bit of action on the food inflation front. The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its second year, even as a second global conflict erupted in the latter half of the year in Israel-Palestine.

The planet continued to warm and heat up, with this year being the hottest in recorded human history. The southwest monsoon, which the editor of Down To Earth (DTE) has called India’s Finance Minister, was also irregular as India also heats up with the rest of the planet.

Here is some of the DTE coverage on food inflation this year:

In March, DTE asked the question as to whether the world was heading to another year of unprecedented food price rise.

Read more: Food prices are expected to rise more, and cost may be too heavy to bear for many

In June, the prices of the humble tomato went north across India. DTE examined the possible reasons behind this development.

Read more: Just why are tomato prices going north? Dalwai Report offers clues

In August, DTE  reported on how the spike in tomato prices had made the traditional Indian food platter or Thali dearer.

Read more: Rising tomato prices made ‘thali’ dearer in July; cost of platter surged by 34%

In October, DTE analysed how the below normal monsoon was having an impact on the Indian economy, including food inflation.

Read more: Explained: How is ‘below normal’ monsoon 2023 impacting India’s economy

In November, DTE interviewed World Food Prize winner Lawrence Haddad on the impact of climate change on food systems.

Read more: “Rich countries need to consume and produce less animal-source foods”