World Food Prices Rise to Record on Sugar, Meat Costs

[phantom power]

World food prices rose to a record in December on higher sugar, grain and oilseed costs, the United Nations said, exceeding levels reached in 2008 that sparked deadly riots from Haiti to Egypt.

An index of 55 food commodities tracked by the Food and Agriculture Organization gained for a sixth month to 214.7 points, above the previous all-time high of 213.5 in June 2008, the Rome-based UN agency said in a monthly report. The gauges for sugar and meat prices advanced to records.

Sugar climbed for a third year in a row in 2010, and corn jumped the most in four years in Chicago. Food prices may rise more unless the world grain crop increases “significantly” in 2011, the FAO said Nov. 17. At least 13 people died last year in Mozambique in protests against plans to lift bread prices.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-05/global-food-prices-climb-to-record-on-cereal-sugar-costs-un-agency-says.html

[Andy823]

1. Prices rise

And the rich get richer! Food and energy should NOT be traded on the open markets! Investors can manipulate prices, just like they did with oil and are now doing with food, and nothing ever seems to me done to stop this madness! Those who manipulate prices on such things so they can make millions or billions don't really care how it affects others as long as they make their money!

[msongs]

2. humans do not need to eat meat. the meat industry is an environmental disaster nt

[GliderGuider]

4. No, but we do.

It appears to be a biological preference. That makes the practice very hard to counteract.

Virtually everything humans do these days aside from singing and meditation is an environmental disaster at some level. :-(

[customerserviceguy]

5. When a few more people

switch from meat to vegetarian food, watch the price of your precious tofu rise, too. This affects everybody.

[GliderGuider]

3. Commentary from last August

Food Prices Are Soaring Everywhere!

Between 2005 and 2008, average world prices for rice rose by 217%. As it pertains to wheat, the recent droughts and wildfires in Russia caused the government to ban grain exports for the remainder of the year, which in turn caused wheat prices worldwide to spike. Although the recent downturn in the economy took pressure off rising food prices as demand decreased slightly, rising incomes all over the world and increased food consumption, particularly in China and India, have resulted in a new demand/supply equilibrium: prices have adapted upwards.



Increasing food prices can in part be attributable to an increase in the costs of inputs required to produce food such as energy, land, seed and fertilizers. Several years ago, the U.S. and Europe began promoting ethanol research, giving farmers financial incentives to sell corn and other crops for use in biofuels. However, corn ended up being used to try to help cars run more efficiently rather than in the production of food. As a result, there is less corn product to meet customer demands for consumable corn.

As mentioned previously, large populations in India and China have recently found themselves with enough disposable income to purchase meats and other pricey foods. In economics, this principle is known as Engel’s law, which states that the healthier a country’s economy, the more food its population consumes. A rise in the demand for meat means an increase in meat prices and an increase in meat production. This raises the demand for produce which is used to feed farm animals. Developing countries such as India and China are even harder hit by high food prices because of their inability to produce food domestically and their resulting reliance on imports. Finally, weather patterns affect the price of food. Droughts, floods and wildfires have all caused food harvests to be affected, decreasing supply. Many experts worry that these environmental occurrences are symptoms of climate change.

The globalization that is endemic to modern commodity markets makes some speculation inevitable, but it's not just speculation that's driving global food prices.