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July 15, 2008
Feeling the pinch on food prices?
I'm seeing articles like this in all my trade magazines, but a recent USA Today story made me feel compelled to post this today:
Overall, food prices climbed 4% in 2007, the biggest annual increase since 1990, and prices are projected to rise 4.5% to 5.5% this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.In a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,016 adults, 46% said the higher cost of food is creating a financial hardship. They said they have noticed an increase in the cost of milk, fruits and vegetables, meat, bread and eggs.
I have to say we're feeling it here, and a lot of it came from burning edible food like corn to produce ethanol. As corn prices surged, farmers rushed to plant more of it, leaving other less lucrative foods unplanted, which has led to shortages and outright starvation in parts of the world.
There are much more viable sources- field scraps, switchgrass, kudzu, etc., and as sanity prevails, prices should stabilize and hopefully come down a bit.
The next Food Fight will be economy based, I think. I'll have the details sometime this week.
Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at July 15, 2008 8:30 AM
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Food news