My memories of Nana, my paternal grandmother, are vivid. She taught me the proper way to place a single slice of lox on top of a bagel smeared with cream cheese. The trick was to spread the lox out so thinly with the back of a fork that you could see the hole of the bagel and the white of the cheese through it. Lox was a true luxury food in the 1950s and not to be eaten lightly. Nana’s emphasis on frugality was, I now understand, the psychological residue of her experience of multiple life crises – immigration from Poland to San Francisco in the early 20th century, the 1906 earthquake, World War I, the Spanish flu, the Great Depression, and World War II.

Compared to 2019, supermarket operating costs were up 7.9 percent in April 2020 and 6.7 percent in May 2020, according to USDA Economic Research Service. Grocery stores have remained open during the pandemic and have had to quickly adjust to new regulations, safety and sanitation practices, and enhanced customer education — all requiring resources. In addition, some areas of the grocery store, including salad bars and hot bars, have had to shut down, meaning a loss of revenue.

America has become a nation divided, one refrigerator at a time, as we have been bombarded with non-dairy options. Aside from the classic blue and red-capped milk jugs and white cartons, you might find soymilk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk and something labeled “nondairy beverage.” Don’t forget the vanilla and chocolate-flavored options. Next to that you might see yogurt: low-fat, nonfat, Greek, probiotic, soy, and almond. With such an array of options, how can we decide what’s best for our bodies?