This link has been bookmarked by 2 people . It was first bookmarked on 07 Apr 2008, by tony curzon price.
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14 May 12
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Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs have doubled or tripled, with much of the increase taking place just in the last few months.
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truly devastating in poor countries, where food often accounts for more than half a family’s spending.
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How did this happen? The answer is a combination of long-term trends, bad luck — and bad policy.
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First, there’s the march of the meat-eating Chinese —... the growing number of people ... who are, for the first time, rich enough to start eating like Westerners. Since it takes about 700 calories’ worth of animal feed to produce a 100-calorie piece of beef, this change in diet increases the overall demand for grains.
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Second... Modern farming is highly energy-intensive... With oil persistently above $100 per barrel, energy costs have become a major factor driving up agricultural costs.
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Third, there has been a run of bad weather in key growing areas. In particular, Australia
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Where the effects of bad policy are clearest, however, is in the rise of demon ethanol and other biofuels.
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And meanwhile, land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis.
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precautionary inventories were allowed to shrink
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We also need a pushback against biofuels, which turn out to have been a terrible mistake. But it’s not clear how much can be done. Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past.
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07 Apr 08
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Since it takes about 700 calories’ worth of animal feed to produce a 100-calorie piece of beef, this change in diet increases the overall demand for grains.
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