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Why Are Food Prices Rising So Fast?

The Economic Collapse [1]
June 24, 2011






Some recent statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are absolutely staggering.  According to a recent CNBC article [3], over the past year many of the most popular foods in America have absolutely soared in price….


Unfortunately, it looks like the trend of rising food prices is accelerating.  Just look at what the CNBC article [3] says happened in the month of April alone….


Meat is becoming more expensive as well.  Since March 2009, livestock prices have risen by 138% [4].





Over the past year, the global price of food has risen by 37 percent [8] and this has pushed approximately 44 million more people around the world into poverty.



But it is not just wheat that has been soaring.  Check out what a recent Bloomberg article [8] had to say about what has been happening to many key agricultural commodities over the past year….


Even before this recent spike in food prices the world was struggling to get enough food to everybody.  It has been estimated that somewhere in the world someone starves to death every 3.6 seconds [9], and 75 percent of those are children under the age of five.


That is a very good question.


So why is all of this happening?

Well, a lot of people are blaming the Federal Reserve [10].  All of the “quantitative easing” that the Fed has done has flooded the financial markets with money.  All of that money had to go somewhere.  Much of it has pumped up the prices of hard assets such as oil, gold and agricultural commodities.

But it is not just the Fed that is to blame.  The truth is that central banks all over the world have been recklessly printing money [11].



In addition, U.S. economic policies are also playing a role.  At this point, almost a third [12] of all corn grown in the United States is used for fuel.  This is putting a lot of stress on the price of corn.

Also, there are some long-term trends that are not in our favor.  For example,the systematic depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer [13] could eventually turn “America’s Breadbasket” back into the “Dust Bowl”.  If you have not heard of this problem I would encourage you to do some research on it.

Things are going to get a lot worse, but already America is having a really hard time feeding itself.  According to Feeding America’s 2010 hunger study, more than 37 million Americans [14] are now being served by food pantries and soup kitchens.

So is that number unusual?

Yes, it sure is.

The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% [14] since 2006.

That is not a good trend.


Right now, there are 44 million Americans on food stamps.  Nearly half of themare children [15].


It is estimated that one out of every four [16] American children is currently on food stamps, and it is being projected that approximately 50 percent [17] of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.




As the U.S. middle class continues to be destroyed [18], the number of Americans that can’t afford to buy enough food is going to continue to rise.  Food prices are rising much faster than wages are, and that is not likely to change any time soon.


I hope you are prepared for that.