Rising food prices - what are the factors?

Question

use of food crops for bio fuel production, inflated crude oil prices, high cost of food production and transportation because of soaring petrol and diesel prices, floods and drought caused by global warmimng, trade barriers & trade protectionism, profiteering & stock-market speculation on projected demand for food crops, stock-market shift of investments from other commodities to food commodities, food crops allowed as tradable price-fluctuating commodities on the stock exchange, change in eating habits in developing economies, increased amount of food crops used to feed livestock for slaughter and sale to meet growing demand for meat consumption, stock-piling of food crops by food producers, traditional food crop farmers have stopped growing such crops in favour of other more lucrative crops, deliberate destruction of food crops to create lower supply to higher demand ratio to push up food crop prices, not enough safeguards and monitoring of food production practices,

Answer 1

Why ask at all if you were so intent on answering your own question? Anyway, thanks for the 2 points.

Answer 2

WE NEED FARMS MAN!!!!!!!!!!

all these stupid starbucks and chuckee cheeses!

thats what stupid people care about

all of us will be sorry when USA runs outta farm land

we are a sucky country and dont support ourselfs

WE LET THE GOVERMENT TAKE OVER!!!!!!!

WE NEED MORE FARM LAND AND HOMELESS SHELTERS AND MANTAL ILLNESS PROGRAMS

AND JOB OPPERTUNITIES IN FARM WORK!!!!!!!!

WAKE UP AND LEARN TO SURVIVE BY GROWING FOODS

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN HOW TO FARM OR THEY WONT

MAKE IT IN THE FUTure

SCHOOLS NEED TO CHANGE EDUCATIONA AND TEACH KIDS ABOUT OUR CRISIS ON EARTH AND HOW TO PREPARE WITH SURVIVAL SKILLS

Answer 3

So what is your question...we are getting screwed everyday but raising prices. Our food goes up because barrels of oil go up, which is cost of people being worried that there isn't enough to keep us going for years, and oil companies are charging a massive price to produce it, because they have to repair things that should be done every year, but they wait ten years and say c**p, this big thing broke, its goign to cost us tons of money, and our CEO's won't take a pay reduction of millions of dollars that they make a year.  Farmers are battling everything just like everyone else, it takes hired hands, the price of fuel to plant and service the crops, which goes to the prices that are increased in the grocery stores. Its just the factors of life. Gas and Fuel go up, and everything else climbs up. Just remember keep thanking the goverment for not helping lower gas prices, because they are making a huge profit off of those stocks they have with gas companies.

Answer 4

You have done a great job answering your own question and providing a vast amount of information for everyone.  In addition to what you have already stated, there is a mismanagement of resources by various countries, this is causing destruction of arable land in certain parts of the world, and is causing desertification in others.  A large portion of problems arise simply from governmental policies, such as trade which you addressed, and there is also the fact that in many developing countries arable land is being destroyed so that factories can be built there.  Further, there are inefficient practices when it comes to agriculture which is creating a plethora of problems, these include lower yields, food products which are not as safe as they otherwise would be, and a lower quality food product.