spheric food price have return to their lowest point in four years – but at the same time , the number of hungry people in the man is now at842 million , or 1 in every 8 people . So , what ’s going on ?
The FAOreleased their latest dataon the world food price index number this workweek , where they detailed the rather sudden driblet in food prices to their lowest level over the past four years in every survey group of food — in cereals , dairy , vegetable oil , and refined sugar — except one : meat prices , which had actually experienced a ascent in price .
So , if we ’re at the lowest spirit level in every category but one , then why , at the same fourth dimension , are we hearing increase concerns over the issues of global thirst and food prices ? The government issue is two - fold .
First , most countries tend to expend a higher percentage of their income on nutrient than Americans , who typically dedicate just under 10 % of their income to intellectual nourishment . And that percentage tends to be particularly high ( in some cases absorbing almost half of a family income ) in areas where much of the population lives in poverty .
With so much of the income dedicated to food , a bead in cost adequate to about 4 % this last class does n’t make much of scratch . Plus any shocks to the income — whether a drop in purchasing power or even a temporary loss — are reverberate almost immediately in the amount and quality of intellectual nourishment that is able to be purchased .
The 2nd trouble , though , becomes apparent when you tread a little further back , and appear at the pricing trends not just from the last few long time , but from the last few decade . While it ’s dead on target that food prices have fall , when you liken them to where they were a tenner ago , it turn out that the bead is actually not a drop at all . Take a look at the graph below charting the rise and fall of the food price index since 1961 .
Global food prices increased dramatically beginning in 2005 , and did n’t blockade their upwards mount until 2011 . It ’s dependable that the most late number are the low-pitched we ’ve see in some meter , but even though prices are fall , it ’s still a wad more expensive than it used to be .
Graph : FAO
Top image : WindowsObservor
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