While regular supermarkets are struggling in China, aspirational consumers keep Sam’s Club, Costco and its Chinese competitor Freshippo X expanding.

The poorest Americans spend the largest share of their paychecks on food at home.

The Campbell Soup Company is acquiring Sovos Brands, maker of Rao’s pasta sauce. It’s pricey, but with the economic future iffy, more people may decide to trade eating out for buying premium ingredients at home.

And grocery prices are fallling.

Most states don’t tax groceries. But the treat used in candied yams and s’mores tests the definition.

“I have to get less food,” one shopper said. “So I plan very carefully with my food stamps.”

Farmers are paying more for equipment and supplies. Drought in the Great Plains has hurt corn and wheat. The Ukraine war also plays a role.

In part, that’s because restaurants don’t want to scare away customers.

Consumers are seeing rising prices for food, particularly beef, pork and poultry. That’s forcing some to shift their eating habits.

People are walking a fine line between underdoing it and overdoing it.