I keep hearing the phrase "worldwide food costs are at an all-time high" on NPR and in other news outlets; although I would expect natural disasters and political conflict and other changes in supply and demand to affect specific regional markets, I find it difficult to ascribe a worldwide across-the-board rise in commodities to just those explanations.<p>(I would expect a higher demand in China for American milk to actually decrease domestic milk prices, for example, assuming that production could be scaled upward to meet demand; given what I've seen of the dismal conditions of several dairy farms in California, healthy pastureland doesn't seem to be a requirement for operating a dairy.)<p>There's a solid alternative theory -- as yet unproven, though -- that makes a lot more sense to me. Relatively recent changes in the handling of speculation in commodities is causing across-the-board price increases where prices should be decreasing instead. For more info: <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011415143212280315.html" rel="nofollow">http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011415...</a>
Why hasn't it happened such that somebody just goes to a nation like India and brings modern farming technologies that yield such high growth products here?<p>This allows people to grow products a fraction of the price but at a similar market value. Thus eliminating that 5x increase in the cost of feed for the milker, allowing him to expand his supply to meet the new demand for milk.