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• Food Inflation, or the steadily rising cost of food commodities, is a growing global issue. The price of many basic food items like wheat, rice, coffee, milk, meat, soy, and corn has increased dramatically, for some items as much as doubling, in the last year. This has already had a huge impact on nations in which poverty is common. In many western nations consumers have already adapted their eating habits, something that has not happened in response to price increases in recent years. The price of food has also caused political instability, with notable riots breaking out in Egypt and Haiti. Fast Facts:

  1. Price of wheat doubled in the United States between 2007 and 2008
  2. Wheat prices reached an all time high in the United States in 2008
  3. Milk and meat prices more than doubled in the United States during this period
  4. The United Nations projects a 53% increase in cereals prices in Europe
  5. The UN also projects a 43% increase in cereals prices in Africa
  6. Riots have occurred in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Morocco

  Causes:

  1. Increasing population
  2. Increased demand for wheat in Chinese markets
  3. Increasing production of biofuels
  4. Successive poor harvests
  5. High tariffs and blocked exports

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Price of Food | 2008 Recession | How to Save Money on Food | How to Save Money on Groceries | How to Tell When the Economy Is Getting Better

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