Thread: Global Food Fight Stokes Inflation, Despite Slowdown

Global Food Fight Stokes Inflation, Despite Slowdown

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008 3:59 p.m. EST

Your morning bowl of cereal and cup of coffee are now costing you more than ever.
Unless you bought gold several years ago and hoarded it, you may not be happy at your increasingly expensive breakfasts.

Not only has the cost of a gallon of milk increased rapidly, so has corn, cocoa and tons of other commodities as demand continues to rise globally. The future prices of crude oil, gold, silver, corn, cocoa – even cattle (which must be fed) are reaching or getting close to record prices.

Just in 2007, the price of soybeans and wheat increased by 70 percent while copper tripled and zinc doubled.

Some economists are predicting that a surge in prices will continue as demand pushes on globally.
"It is absolutely a fundamental change in the global economic structure,â€

Corn prices are generally 4.45 to $4.63/bushel. That bowl of cereal you eat has only about 15-20 cents worth of corn in it. The packaging adds more price to the cereal than the corn. The rest is in processing, labor and transporting the finished product to the retailers.

We can drive down food prices by driving less, eating smaller portions, stop eating processed junk and grow as much as you can in your own yard. Think back to World War II Victory Gardens.

You can save on your food bill as well if you buy locally. Local farms usually are much cheaper and better quality than the stuff transported across country to your grocery store. You would be surprised at how much better Fresh eggs and milk tastes as well as other local farm raised foods.