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: Unfortunately, this also means that in the wake of a drought, prices will rise much more than if there were no such ethanol mandate. Specifically for corn and grain products, prices will rise and remain high until the next normal corn crop is harvested in late summer and fall of 2013. Until then, you can expect to see higher prices for cereals, baked goods, cooking oils, and anything sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Global Economic Growth and Food Prices
Professor Hurt further explained that the past five years have also seen some incredible economic growth in developing countries, specifically in China. This type of economic growth tends to have a transitional effect on the diet of that country’s inhabitants. Diets in rapidly developing countries tend to go from grain-based to protein-based – that is, from eating locally grown grains to eating meat, eggs, and milk that is either imported or requires imported feed. This large additional market for food products has helped to raise our domestic food prices. Add an unexpected and completely unpredictable drought into a food sector that is already dealing with additional demand for both bio-energy and emerging foreign markets, and it is clear that prices will go up. What Higher Food Prices Will Mean
While this drought is certainly serious, it is not going to cause fundamental changes to how Americans buy and eat food. Professor Hurt emphasized several times that availability will not be an issue.