World Food Prices Rise Further
Global food prices rose in March for a third straight month with more hikes to come, the UN's food agency said on Thursday, adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries. Record high prices for staple foods last year were one of the main factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as bread riots in other parts of the world.... "The food price index has an extremely high correlation to oil prices and with oil prices up it's going to be difficult for food prices not to follow suit," said Nick Higgins, commodity analyst at Rabobank International.
China Becomes World’s Biggest Grocery Market
The onward march of the Chinese consumer continues, with China overtaking the U.S. as the biggest grocery market in the world in 2011, according to new research out of the United Kingdom. The Chinese grocery sector was worth $970 billion (607 billion pounds) at the end of 2011, while the U.S. market came in at $913.5 billion (572 billion pounds), research by food industry analysts IGD showed. The figures come at a time of widespread food price inflation as well as rapid economic growth in China, which is now the world’s second-largest economy as well as the most populous country. The analysts believe the gap between spending by Chinese and American consumers on groceries will widen over the next few years, with the market for groceries in China reaching 918 billion pounds by 2015.
An examination of the interconnection of human domination of the planet and the use of petroleum, and offers solutions for how we can stop our progression down this destructive path.
