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Posted on Wed, Jun 1, 2011 : 3:29 p.m.

Food prices to double in next 20 years, according to Oxfam report

By Jessica Webster

corn-field-Dodo-Bird.jpg

Photo by Flickr user Dodo-Bird.

A study published by Oxfam predicts that the prices of food staples will double by the year 2030, according to The Guardian.

Climate change, population growth and the re-purposing of food as biofuels are listed as among the variables that will impact the increase in food prices.

"We are sleepwalking towards an age of avoidable crisis," Oxfam's chief executive, Barbara Stocking, said. "One in seven people on the planet go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone. The food system must be overhauled."

This report comes on the heels of a warning from the United Nations last month that increasing food prices could trigger unrest in developing countries in the near future. The World Bank reports that food costs have pushed 44 million people into poverty in the past year.

The full article is available on the Guardian site.

Comments

Gordon

Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 1:13 p.m.

Not surprised that food prices in the next 20 years; but I'd be concerned about the draught conditions in the grain belt of the USA. We are good at squeezing grain out of fields; but Mother Nature has to provide water. There could be quite an increase in the cost of grain based foods and meat because of the draught. Becomes a tough decision to sell what grain you have overseas or domestically when the foreign buyer is willing to pay more. We export a lot of grains.