What Food Challenge Are You Facing?

Food instability is everywhere.
I don't know what challenges you're facing this year, but up here in the north, one of ours will be to deal with the growing cost of groceries.
Not just fresh fruit and vegetables either...all groceries. It seems that the healthier a food is, the more expensive it is! So many folks reach for items with empty calories, rather than veggies. As convenient as it is to grab a box of Kraft Dinner, how many of us have the time and budget to think about making that same dish from scratch? Sure, there's less chemicals and crap in it, but how many of us reach for a brick of cheese, a little milk and a package of elbow noodles instead? Is it worth it to buy four loaves of bread and trust that it's not mostly filler, when we can make our own?

I'm fortunate to be able to make that choice.

But what about the food items we can't make? Like peanut butter? The price on that comfort food jumped a few years ago, and of course, it's never come down. Coffee is outrageous, and to counteract how much we were spending on it, I started drinking tea.
Fresh veggies are mind-blowingly expensive. I need to get off my arse and plant lettuce and spinach again, to grow inside. No, I won't be able to grow a massive head of romaine, or a large bag of spinach, but it's better than going without because we can't afford that big bag of greens.

So, what food challenges do you have to contend with this year? Any ideas how to ease the pinch?