Global Food Prices Are Getting Closer to a Record High

[left-of-center2012]

A United Nations index tracking staples from wheat to vegetable oils climbed 3% to a fresh decade high in October, threatening even higher grocery bills for households that have already been strained by the pandemic. That could also add to central banks’ inflation worries and risks worsening global hunger that’s at a multiyear high.

Bad weather hit harvests around the world this year, freight costs soared and labor shortages have roiled the food supply chain from farms to supermarkets. An energy crisis has also proved a headache, forcing vegetable greenhouses to go dark and causing a knock-on risk of bigger fertilizer bills for farmers.

The price gains are stirring memories of spikes in 2008 and 2011 that contributed to global food crises. While it takes time for commodity costs to trickle to grocery shelves, officials in areas like North Africa and Turkey are already facing difficulties shielding shoppers from the blow.

Bigger expenses for farmers could also curb Northern Hemisphere plantings now underway, according to the FAO. October’s food-price gains were mostly driven by higher costs for grains and vegetable oils, the FAO said in a report.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-food-prices-getting-closer-09000591.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Oh, my.

I have noticed price increases for food where I live, but they are not that drastic, and more to the point I can afford those increases. Lucky me. I also live alone now. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have children, and the price increases being way beyond what I could afford.

I am extraordinarily fortunate. And I know that.