Food prices are rising again according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, global Food Price Index. That's being blamed on government export restrictions, a weakening United States dollar and a growing appetite by speculators and index funds for wider commodity portfolio investments.
Futurist Peter Schwartz warns that we have become so obsessed with the global financial crisis that we have ignored the prospect of a food price crisis. Schwartz says people now spend about about 15-25% of their income on food. But with rising food prices, they could end up spending as much as 50% of their budgets on foods, which means less money for other items such as clothing and vacations. And the problem, he says, is not food shortages but speculation by investors looking for commodities. Once it was oil, now it's food.
To prepare for this, he says, we need to start thinking the unthinkable. Which may be easier said than done.
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