Tim Knowles thanks for that questions. I clarified the article’s language — in an effort to make it readable and conversational (a challenge when talking about ag and commodity futures) I was a little unclear.

To your questions- food prices don’t necessarily rise when the economy is in recession (though the two things have been known to happen simultaneously, re: your very cool chart in 2008). Food prices rises when inflation is occurring in the economy. The uncertainty in the stock market caused by inflation often leads to volatility or to declines in overall stock prices. In that way, when food prices (or really all prices across the economy) are on the rise, the stock market tends to not do well. That’s why you would invest in ag commodities, because commodity prices tend to be resistant to that kind of inflation volatility.

I will add that in my brief research, there is some dispute about this mechanism and it’s a complex web of casual and corollary relationships. But the point I’m trying to make stands — the reason index funds invest in ag commodities is because they’re a stable earner when there’s volatility or price declines in the stock market due to inflation. That means when food prices are up, if the uncertainty that caused that drove your stock portfolio down, you’re at least picking up some growth in your commodities. But for people who aren’t invested in the stock markets, they only see the higher prices at the grocery store. That’s the injustice here, that people with enough money can protect themselves against economic hardship (that can be caused by speculation and bad investing), while people who can’t afford to protect themselves pay for higher priced basic necessities.