While prices overall continued to deflate, food prices rose even higher in May after spiking in April, raising the risk of food insecurity for millions of people. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, in May, the price of groceries ("food at home") increased by 1 percent, following a 2.6 percent rise in April. Meals out ("food away from home") also grew, but only by 0.1 percent in April and 0.4 percent in May. The BLS said that while April's increase was broad-based, May's increase was concentrated mostly in meats, poultry, fish and eggs. The price of beef, for example, was actually 10.8 percent more expensive in May, its largest ever monthly increase. In contrast, the price of dairy products rose by just 1 percent, while fruits and vegetables rose by just 0.5 percent. The price of cereals and other bakery products, meanwhile, fell by 0.2 percent after rising by 2.9 percent in April.

Prices everywhere else, however, have dropped, sometimes precipitously. Most dramatic was the price of gasoline, which fell by 33 percent, and fuel oil, which fell by 37 percent. Electric bills also got 0.2 percent cheaper.

So while driving to the grocery store may be cheaper, the groceries themselves are decidedly not. But that's if one can even get to a store in the first place. CNN Money noted that, with widespread business closures and public transit cuts, areas without easy access to a grocery store, also known as "food deserts" (not to be confused with food desserts) have grown. In Georgia, for example, the number of people living in "food insecure areas" has increased by 69 percent since the start of the pandemic, by the estimates of the nonprofit group Urban Footprint; it also calculates that this number has increased by 43 percent in Louisiana, 36 percent in Mississippi, and 118 percent in Kentucky.

While hundreds of millions of dollars had been specifically allocated for food aid in the CARES Act, bureaucratic hurdles have meant that only a fraction of that funding has actually been released. At the same time, with so many out of work, a recent survey of 1,100 adults found that 26 percent have reported either going without meals or having to rely on charities or government programs to obtain groceries since February. In the face of growing food insecurity, food banks have been struggling to keep up with exploding demand. Another survey of 3,219 people found a 33 percent increase in household food insecurity since the pandemic began, with 35.6 percent of food insecure households classified as newly food insecure.