Originally Posted By Mary Poppins I saw this on the local news (Canadian) but heard no more details. I tried googling this topic but came up empty. Sorry about the lack of details.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I've heard this also and the hypothosis seems to have two parts. 1. As the price of corn rises because of new demand for ethanol some farmers will switch from wheat to corn, decreasing the supply of wheat and increasing the price of wheat. The stronger the demand for corn based ethanol the more dramatic the whole cycle will be. 2. As more people in India and China become more prosperous (i.e., they are moving out of the "living on a dollar a day" catagory) the very first thing they will be spending their new "riches" on (yes, that was sarcastic) is more and better food. (What? you don't like living on the edge of starvation either? But your relativly low demand is keeping my food costs low!) Overall even if the cost of food doubles (and it probably will, the question is how long it will take). It will still be a relativly small percentage of a Westerner's budget, even a blue collar family, compared someone living on the extreme edge of poverty.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP I CAN find some information for rising food prices overall: U.S. food prices rose by a 17-year high of 4 percent last year and were seen rising by another 3 to 4 percent in 2008. Food inflation was expected to outpace the general inflation rate through 2010, the U.S. Agriculture Department forecast. Global food prices have risen even faster and will continue to do so, economists said. I found that in the Gaurdian Newspaper, but it's off of the Router's News Wire. Read the complete article here: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7330435" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/feed article?id=7330435</a> (And it's from Feb 22, 2008) Also, something minor about the price of wheat: "Campbell also said it would increase its soup prices by 5% because of the rising cost of wheat. The company will also raise the price of its Prego spaghetti sauces and V8 juices." That's from a very tiny article in the LA Times, dated Feb 24, 2008. The entire article is here: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-consumerbriefs24feb24" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/busines s/la-fi-consumerbriefs24feb24</a>,1,6457290.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 5% year over year can certainly add up, but it's not enough to retreat to the bomb shelter just yet. I can't remember the formula, 5% year over year double the price how soon? Less that 20 years, but it can't be that much less.
Originally Posted By Mary Poppins Thanks, Mrs.ElderP for those informative hypotheses. I don't look forward to paying $10.00 for a dozen donuts.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Mary Poppins, take comfort in the fact that your $10 donuts mean that a few less people are starving in the world. Speaking of which, how much do you pay now? $10 sounds cheap to me, but it's been a very long time since I bought donuts.
Originally Posted By mele I think we'd all be a bit better off if junk food was more expensive than healthier foods like vegetables.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ Yes, indeed, mele! Last time I bought donuts, they were under $5/dozen, Mrs. ElderP
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Speaking of which, I think that's the reason the price of wheat will be going up. Lase spring I saw a Krispy Kreme with whole wheat donuts. They tasted pretty much the same as the normal ones, but were "healthy". I think that's why the price of wheat will go up. It has nothing to do wit ethanol. : )
Originally Posted By mele Forget wheat products...it looks like the price of beer is going up! This will panic some people I know. ;-)
Originally Posted By LuLu I would guess that wheat and corn will still be cheap compared to good foods like veggies. My complaint is the rise in price of organic veggies! I bought a veggie juicer not quite 2 years ago. At that time, organic celery was $1.69 a bunch at Whole Foods. It's now $2.49, AND the bunches are skimpier too. They used to bundle 2 together for 1 price when they were skimpy... now I dig thru the display to get the best bunches Celery is my staple and I buy 3 bunches a week when I'm juicing daily (along with a lot of other organic veggies that are also ridiculously expensive!). I do feel blessed that I can afford to buy quality food.
Originally Posted By LuLu >>I can't remember the formula, 5% year over year double the price how soon?<< I looked this up: At 5 percent annual inflation, prices double every fourteen years.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP LuLu have you (or others) read the book: The Omnivore's Delima. Apparently, based on reviews from my friends, (though I havn't read it yet) you come away from that book more certain than ever that High Fructuose Corn Syrup is actually the Devil! And yes, I could go on for ever and ever about farm subsidies in this country.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <High Fructuose Corn Syrup is actually the Devil!> When you start reading labels, it's incredible how many foods contain this crap. Just give us the sugar! At least our bodies know how to digest and process sugar.
Originally Posted By mele I was invited to see Michael Pollan, the author of 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' a couple of weeks ago but was unable to go. I do think corn syrup is pretty evil and think it plays a major part in the obesity epidemic in this country and rapidly in the world. I pretty much think pre-packaged foods, while very handy and pretty tasty, has been very harmful.
Originally Posted By fkurucz Apparently there is only a 10 week supply of wheat left in the world. If this is true, then prices will indeed jump. <a href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3423734.ece" target="_blank">http://business.timesonline.co .uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3423734.ece</a>
