Ricky Volpe, associate professor in the Agribusiness Department, teaches classes on food retail and supply chain management focused on the grocery sector. Prior to joining Cal Poly in 2014, he worked as an economist at the USDA Economic Research Service in Washington, D.C. Volpe is interested in better understanding the impact that the food retail sector has on other industries such as transportation, construction and labor markets. He’s recently been published in several news articles related to inflation and increased food prices, including a recent story in the L.A. Times: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-02-17/are-inflation-fears-justified-for-most-middle-class-households and a Q&A shared by the Ratio Institute: https://ratioinstitute.org/are-covid-19-and-climate-change-risks-or-opportunities-for-food-retail/.