Omnivore - Rising food prices’ sunny side

The rising cost of food hasn’t made everyone unhappy. Hormel, the folks who make Spam, are ecstatic, according to the Associated Press:

What once was cheeky, silly and the subject of a Monty Python musical (“Spamalot”) is back on the table as people turn to the once-snubbed meat, analysts say.

Food prices are increasing faster than they have risen since 1990, at a 4 percent rate in the U.S. last year, according to the Agriculture Department. Many staples are rising even faster, with white bread up 13 percent last year, bacon up 7 percent and peanut butter up 9 percent...

Spam’s maker, Hormel Foods Corp., reported last week that it saw strong sales of the pork meat in the second quarter, helping push up its profits 14 percent.

Get the full AP story here, or listen to NPR’s report here. The grotesque canned meat marked its 30th birthday last month, by the way.