Rising food prices and their impact
The varied, high-value foods that people are expected to consume in the next decade are also more resource-intensive. The large grain requirement for meat production has led to a disproportionate increase in the demand of grain, so the crop yields and meat production in the world will continue to keep food prices high. Food prices will rise further due to the limited availability of suitable land and water, as well as the reduction of global grain stocks due to a number of climate-influenced poor harvests in different parts of the world and new demands for bio-fuel production. For example, bio-fuels are essentially responsible for a 105 percent increase in corn prices from January 2002 to February 2008. (Case, 2008) In addition, rising energy prices push up the cost of producing and transporting food, increasing its retail price. Higher food prices will redefine consumer values. In order to make ends meet, many consumers, in both developed and emerging economies, will have to be more cautious and selective in what they buy, if they aren’t already. Consumers will not be able to spend as large a share