[bugglebeetle]

Monopolization in the food industry (at just about every level) has set the stage for unchecked corporate profiteering. The real shortages during the pandemic created a pretext for ongoing gouging. Federal authorities used to intervene with various forms of price controls and limits on this kind of stuff, but now they simply wash their hands of the whole thing. This is of course all in the context of the US engaging in massive agricultural subsidies, the bulk of which go to said monopolies.