It’s a multiple of factors as to why food prices have increased.In my area,drought-stricken for two years now,there is little hay for livestock.Hay costs 3 times what it was 3-4 years ago.Also,all of the farmers planted lots of corn,which has dried up in the 100-108 degree/no rainfall days.It’s useless.Then of course,the cost of fuel has also added to the price.
Cotton is barely sustaining,but ya can’t eat it.Soybeans “look” decent,but I’m betting there are few beans on the plants.The winter wheat dried up in the spring and had to be tilled under.It’s like this all over the southeast.
While munching on a cotton boll is not very tasty, most folks indirectly consume cotton. We sell cotton seed to ranchers as a feed for cattle, and then there is the cottonseed oil using in processing foods. In really dry years I have seen deer and squirrels chew on immature bolls to extract the moisture and then, when hunting season comes around, we harvest the deer. So cotton does contribute to our diet. ;-)