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World Food Prices Will Remain High, Report Says

washingtonpost.com — The recent steep jump in global food prices should ease in the near term, according to a new report, but prices over the next decade are likely to remain high, spurred by the rising cost of oil, the declining dollar and increasing demand for biofuels

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 1, 2008

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  • inactive, on 06/01/2008, -1/+13Look, up in the sky! It's a bird... It's a plane... No, it's CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!
  • hadak, on 06/01/2008, -0/+10It's a simple law of supply and demand...as humanity reproduces, there is more demand, and less supply.
  • v1c1ous, on 06/01/2008, -2/+11I'm tired of this "Reports" guy. all he does is bring bad news. Reports is a dick.
  • vertinox, on 06/01/2008, -1/+9Don't digg this guy down. He speaks the truth. You may not like the idea, but soon economic conditions will make it very hard for people who have more than one child to feed. You should consider this that by having another child in the next 10 years may actually make it very difficult for the one you already have.
  • becurious, on 05/31/2008, -1/+8not a good news :(
  • TheMachine1, on 06/01/2008, -0/+7One school of thought is subsides kept food prices artificially low for a long time. And now we are paying closer to the real free market price. Because demand has hopelessly outstripped production.
  • shaggy25, on 06/01/2008, -2/+8OM NO NO NO
  • zephris, on 06/01/2008, -3/+8The reasons given here are such *****. Prices never go down once they're up. Greed is too strong.
  • TheMachine1, on 06/01/2008, -0/+5"Prices never go down once they're up. Greed is too strong."

    That same greed and the high prices triggers a lot of people to
    try to tap that market. And that can lower the price was increased production.
  • randall82, on 06/01/2008, -0/+5that's it...I'm planting a steak tree...
  • robdiggity, on 06/01/2008, -0/+5While the reasons given here are indeed *****, you over simplify the reality.

    The Chinese and others hold our notes for MASSIVE loans we have taken out to fund things (programs, wars) for which we cannot pay. We have to buy these notes back, with interest. These loans do not adjust for inflation, so here's the rub:

    Would you rather buy those notes back with strong dollars or weak dollars?

    I submit to you that the U.S. economic policy of today is carrying forward what should be described primarily as a "debt management" strategy... our government is trying to service loans with weak dollars, and consequently makes economic decisions to support this policy.

    Does it suck for us? Yup. Is it infuriating that our economy must struggle with this additional burden in order to service the obscene debt incurred to carry out the retarded decision to start an unnecessary war, and execute that war in the most heinously inefficient manner possible? Very.
  • mcquitty, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4Like it or not, population increases are also required for economic development. Japan has one of the oldest populations in the first world and they are now having to turn to robots for continued economic development.
  • bharadwajharish, on 06/01/2008, -1/+5hm i bet on war on food soon .
  • nullcodes, on 06/01/2008, -1/+5When food prices were low a couple of years back you people bitched about starving farmers.

    http://www.focusweb.org/india/content/view/739/30/

    Today farmers are making a profit yet the bitching has stayed the same.

    http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Soaring-food- ...

    You can't win with people.

    Make up your minds, idiots.


    (Btw, farmers in Afghanistan are even growing wheat instead of opium because it's better http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=a1dd ... ),
  • skidooer, on 06/01/2008, -1/+5Corn, for example, was over $7.00/bu. 10 or so years ago. It still hasn't even hit $7.00 this time around. Farmers had been giving their crops away at a loss for several years. I'm not sure where this greed you speak of is in farming.
  • 4eloBek, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4expected end of cheap fuel and food, prolly starvation of millions even billions. i want to be wrong on this.
  • Gemfinder, on 06/01/2008, -0/+4The days when you lose half your brood to cholera, polio and typhoid are over. It is no longer necessary to squeeze out eight kids.
    One of my friends was a Peace Corps worker in Africa; she and her husband brought their one child over with them and dealt with people who had eight children, which they had to feed in addition to caring for two sets of grandparents.
    Their rationale was that they needed to have lots of kids so they could take care of them in their old age, like they were doing with their own parents.
    My friend said, "Honey, the way you're going, you'll starve to death before you make it to old age." She borrowed a loaf of bread and cut it in three pieces. She said, "When there are fewer people, everyone gets a bigger share." Then she cut the three pieces into quarters. "When there are more people, everyone gets less."
    Of course, here in the States, people have lots of kids either because of a.) The Bible told them to, and b.) Their parents want lots of grandchildren to spoil. *****! You only need to replace yourself. Have two kids, then get your tubes tied. If your parents whine about it, chide them about greed (hey, they chided you — payback time!), you did your part and gave them grandchildren. If you want more kids, adopt or foster a kid, or borrow a cousin/niece/nephew/neighbour kid for a day.
  • StingingNettle, on 06/01/2008, -7/+11Stop having babies!
  • iugin, on 06/01/2008, -1/+4Village people who can have the food from their own garden should be happy.
  • Gemfinder, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3It's happened already. Reference "Current Events: Egypt."
  • kelmaster1, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3Really? You mean gas prices and food prices will only go up? That seems strange..... :P
  • AlwaysAwake, on 06/01/2008, -1/+4The Western World Corporate/Banking Cartels. led by the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, etc., aka the Illuminati; The NWO, have engineered all this through their bought and paid for minions, our political and government leaders. The phony, yet now real oil and food crisis, which will starve billions to death; the imminent economic and financial crash with the collapse of all fiat paper currencies; and World War III to begin with an attack upon Iran, will fulfill their greed, and ambitions for world-wide domination.
  • vertinox, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3Bah. Biofuels could have nothing to do with the increase of food prices if the farmer lobby so wanted. Most farmers are digging the new high prices so they are shouting corn for ethanol all the way to the bank.

    That said... If they used switchgrass for the source then they could grow it on lands that you couldn't grow corn on and save money all the way.

    And lastly... Wheat and rice aren't affected by any refuels issues at all because corn farms are suitable for either areas so food price increases don't make sense when most of the world lives off either rice or wheat. Corn is mostly a US surpluss since they use corn syrup in everything here and not the real sugar.

    Otherwise... Its nothing but rise of transportation costs.
  • Magnolit, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3and when the central banks print too much money the prices go up and incomes generally stay where they are
  • TheMachine1, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3People have excess children largely in countries that
    have no reliable pension systems or disability allowances . So telling people to have less children would be like telling a person in a
    modern industrial country their pension plan is now worthless and if they lose their job or get injured they are on their own.
  • SkittlesUSA, on 06/01/2008, -0/+3It's mainly an enormous problem for third world countries. Food prices are raising globally largely because of government subsidies on biofuel.
  • skidooer, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2Food costs has remained virtually the same price for decades with only the occasional rises when there were massive crop losses and events like that. Prolonged higher food prices is big news.

    Mind you, technology will soon give us corn that will yield 500bu./acre and we'll be back to normal.
  • SkittlesUSA, on 06/01/2008, -3/+5You realize why food prices are rising right?
    Because the government is subsidizing corn, which raises the price of corn and with it every animal that feeds on corn and all corn products (pretty much everything we eat).

    This is what happens when the government interferes with the market... a whole bunch of unintended consequences.
  • AlwaysAwake, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2War soon ? Yes !! Food soon ? just for thee troops !!! the rest of us are scheduled to be culled.
  • GlassAgate, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2"The days when you lose half your brood to cholera, polio and typhoid are over. It is no longer necessary to squeeze out eight kids"

    How about for the peoples who don't get vaccinated?
    Also, wasn't farming one of many reason for some families to have
    many kids?
  • thedaylights, on 06/01/2008, -0/+2That's a brilliant explanation. I was wondering what the causes behind the dollar's depreciation were. Do you know where I can read more about this theory?
  • vertinox, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2When most of the world lives off grain and rice, I'm not sure where they are getting the correlation between the two because you can grown corn where you can grow rice and grains and vice versa.
  • yourbrokenoven, on 06/01/2008, -3/+4food prices are high? i mean i've noticed they've gone up a little over the years along with gas, but i haven't noticed anything that's unaffordable.
  • curseoflou, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1that's what "they" want you to do ;)
  • gensJulia, on 06/01/2008, -3/+4skittlesUSA is on the money. That’s what happens when politicians jump on the latest fad (global warming crisis!!!) and create erroneous and ruinous policies without firm understanding of facts and consequences.

    Now don't get me wrong climate change is a fact. The earth has gone through many cooling and warming cycles. And will continue to do so. You won't find any scientists disputing the fact that most of the USA was under a mile high ice sheet 10,000 years ago. It has receeded since then (obviously) without human help. Anywone with an elementary education has also heard of plate techtonics, changes of the earh's axis of rotation etc, all natural changes which impact heavily on climate.

    Now I've recently heard that we'll be going through a cooling trend. It never ends the blind leading the blind.



  • pardimate, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1When it comes down to it, there isn't enough waste from McDonald's to fuel everything we need to, from homes to cars to businesses. That is a great solution for a small portion of the fuel we need, but it is not what I would consider completely usable, whereas I think wind and solar energy could be more widely used. For instance, a 100 mile by 100 mile square of solar panels set out in the desert would provide enough energy to fuel every home in America.
  • Bulletbillx, on 06/01/2008, -1/+2Well some biofuels can be made from the waste in the Mcdonalds fryers, so no. Now if you're talking about ethanol only, then maybe.
  • rorster, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Don't forget politicians also made policies to prevent the US from drilling it's own Oil in AWNR. By reversing that and allowing to drill, both gas and food prices would immediately fall.

    We all have congress to thank for that. It is a perfect example of environmentalism run amok.
  • Marijuana, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1The money that the Fed is lending out to banks is actually being invested in oil and commodities driving up prices through speculation. Don't believe this *****.
  • mcquitty, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Platend corn acreage is down 8% from last year. That might have something to do with corn prices rising. Granted, ethanol isn't helping, but both combined only exacerbate the problem.
  • Felixthecat71, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1Food will remain high because when the wholesale price drops, the retail price remains the same, hence, greater profits. Welcome to America! Where the Rich get richer and the poor grow in numbers to no avail of the Government.
  • wynja, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Spurred on by greedy ***** looking to squeeze every last dime out of the poor. Unlike the housing bubble that popped cause people weren't able to afford the retarded spike in prices. People can't live without food and will therefore be forced to pay for the misguided investments of the ultra rich.
  • Marijuana, on 06/02/2008, -0/+1An increasing reality.
  • Terr01, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1Perhaps, but US corn exports haven't dropped.

    If the price is rising during a bumper crop, then it's probably costs *to make the corn* rather than a shortage. (e.g. preexisting high fuel costs, drought in other countries, etc.)
  • Terr01, on 06/01/2008, -0/+1While US agricultural policy has a lot of WTFs, your argument doesn't make sense.

    Food prices are rising even for things like rice in Asia, which is not some sort of substitute corn but a staple on it's own. Also, US corn exports have not dropped, and the rise in corn price ends up as only a few cents per box of cornflakes.

    This is about the high cost of petroleum fuel and issues with the production of non-corn products (e.g. droughts) not an ethanol issue.
  • phlinde, on 06/18/2008, -0/+0pssst.... we don't need to use foods to make biofuel. We can produce it from Algae. http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ToojK_MJd0 So story is buried. Sorry.
  • arkaycee, on 06/01/2008, -0/+0One barrel of oil, one Happy Meal, one replicator ... all the world's energy and hunger problems SOLVED! Oh and a transporter to beam the waste products into deep space to form a new (probably disgusting grayish-greenish-brown) nebula.

    Or you can do it the current Administration's way ... phasers and a tractor beam, kill all those in oil-producing countries and suck all their oil over to us.
  • pilot101, on 06/01/2008, -3/+2damn it, where is a star trek replicator when you need one. TV you fail me again!
  • Crucible1001, on 06/01/2008, -3/+1Ramen still costs the same, so I am not worried.
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