The World Bank reported April 14 that world food prices have jumped 37 percent from a year ago. That has pushed an estimated 44 million more people into poverty. As countries around the world recover from weak economies, political instability or, like Japan, from natural disasters, a central concern should be the price, safety and availability of food.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the global food price index, a measure of the international prices of a basket of food commodities, hit the highest level in February since records were first kept in 1990. That eased a bit in March, but the index still stood at over double its level in 2004.
The average price of wheat this year, $346 a ton, is twice the price in 2005. Part of that comes from increased demand, but another part connects to the rising price of energy.