Tuesday, April 15, 2008

"Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past..."

Posted by A. at 7:47 PM


Democracy Now:

"In Bangladesh at least 15,000 garment factory workers went on strike earlier today to call for higher wages to cover the soaring price of food. In South Africa, the country’s main union has kicked off a series of protests over increasing food prices. In recent weeks food riots have also erupted in Haiti, Niger, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. Protests have flared in Morocco, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mexico and Yemen....Here in the United States, food inflation has reached the highest level in seventeen years, and analysts expect it to get worse.


The Telegraph:

"A new Cold War is taking shape, around energy and food. The world intelligentsia has been asleep at the wheel. While we rage over global warming, global hunger has swept in under the radar screen.”


The Independent:

"The global food crisis became official yesterday."


Krugman:

"[I]t’s not clear how much can be done. Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past."



[image courtesy of FT.com]