Title: Why Are Food Prices Rising - Understanding the Effect of Droughts
Headings: Why Are Food Prices Rising – Understanding the Effect of Droughts
Why Are Food Prices Rising – Understanding the Effect of Droughts
The Economic Impact of Droughts
How Droughts Affect Food Prices
Corn and Grain Dependence
Other Factors That Contribute to Rising Food Prices
Bio-Energy
Global Economic Growth and Food Prices
What Higher Food Prices Will Mean
Final Word

Content: Since there will be fewer cows available for milking and hens for laying, dairy and egg prices will also go up. Like their meat counterparts, the prices should stabilize once the economic outlook improves and the size of herds and flocks have returned to pre-drought levels. Corn and Grain Dependence
Meat and dairy prices are indirectly affected by drought, but the availability of corn and grain is directly related to the weather. However, the price of food products containing corn and grain is affected by many factors, and in fact has been rising for several years independent of the current drought. Other Factors That Contribute to Rising Food Prices
Professor Hurt identified two specific reasons why we have been seeing escalating food prices over the past five years: bio-energy and the rapid economic growth of developing countries. Bio-Energy
In 2005, Congress placed requirements on gasoline refiners and importers to increase the use of ethanol in fuel. Ethanol is a crop-based gasoline substitute that is usually created from corn, although it can be made from the sugars of nearly any crop. The 2005 mandate and the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act mean that more of our national corn crop is diverted to fuel rather than food or livestock feed. This is done in the hopes of eliminating the United States’ dependence on foreign oil.