Food prices are squeezing Europe. Now Italians are calling for a pasta protest

High food prices are pinching households across Europe, where food inflation is outpacing other major economies like the U.S., Japan and Canada. Some governments have responded with price controls or loose agreements with supermarkets to keep costs down. In Italy, a consumer group is taking matters into its own hands, calling for a pasta strike to force down prices by bottoming out demand. The sharply higher prices in Europe are driven by higher energy and labor costs and the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine. That is even though costs for food commodities have fallen for months from record highs, including wheat for the flour used to make pasta.