How long before food price riots spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Louisiana and East LA?
Last week, the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation said global food price rises were running at a record high. The commodity price of corn is up 92 percent in a year, while wheat is 80 percent more expensive.
A great segment on MSNBC describes exactly how riots around the world have been caused by food price inflation.
“Shenanigans at the highest level of our government and financial institutions” led to the removal of position limits from trading on commodities such as grain, wheat and soya, says the report, allowing traders such as Goldman Sachs to hold “more grain than actually exists on the entire planet, because now you are just speculating on the price.”
So the liberation of Egypt and Tunisia from dictatorships was thanks to Goldman Sachs – kinda.
And back home in Western nations, the prices of a range of basic foods surged at the start of the year, showing the biggest monthly rise in more than five years.
Bread, pasta, and packets and tins of food increased in cost by 2.7 per cent between December and January to reach an annual rate of 6.3 per cent. Overall, the annual rate of food inflation jumped from 4 per cent to 4.6 per cent, despite claims of supermarkets to be waging a new year price war. This was the largest monthly increase in two years.
MSNBC were not the only channel to focus in on the food price riots:
2 Responses
Do you really trust that things will be OK? When I go to the store and buy cans by the dozen, I shake my head and wonder how people think having a week of food at home is prudent. In an emergency, the shelves will be empty in a day and might take weeks to be restocked.
Please! Buy a little extra food. You will save money buying bulk.
Still don’t get it people? WAKE UP.. The writing is on the wall. Start prepping for the future of your family as food prices are only going to get higher. Buy heirloom seeds and plant a garden save seeds because before to long we will not be able to get non hybred seeds. One day you may not be able to go to the store or farmers market to buy food..And it may happen sooner than you think..Larry