Food Prices on the Move

On Thursday, our class had the opportunity to hear Raj Patel speak on the food issues that have recently begun to become worse in the world. It was really interesting to hear his opinions on why food prices have recently risen. His first reason was oil. This was interesting because so much of the food grown in the US depends on oil, either for shipping or growing. With the recent explosion of the price of a barrel of oil, I can see that food prices will continue to rise sharply. Raj's second reason was the bad harvests that have plagued various countries due to bad weather. Recently, anyone who even slightly pays attention to the news will have noticed the horrific weather that has been experienced worldwide. While the weather not only destroys crops, it displaces people who are often already very poor, and makes it even harder for these people to afford food. The third reason proposed by Raj about the rise of food is the recent demand for biofuels, especially ethanol. Ethanol is made from corn, and when more corn is being used for fuel, there is less corn for food. I predict that ethanol demand will eventually drop, considering the large amount of corn needed to make ethanol. The fourth reason for the rise of food according to Raj is the growth of developing countries such as India and China. As Raj said, with a growing middle class comes demands and desires, like wanting to eat. The final reason that Raj said that food prices are rising is due to the speculation that there is a food shortage and the prices are rising. When this happens, the general public starts to get worried and wants to store excess food. Food companies such as supermarkets take advantage of this public panic, and uses this as an excuse to raise food and increase their profits. I find this especially relevant as the US is not experiencing any food shortage, but stores such as Sams Club and Costco are limiting the amount of some rices that can be purchased.