Global food prices climb to record highs thanks to "fallout from energy prices" amid skyrocketing oil
By jdheyes // 2022-02-07
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While the overwhelming majority of Americans favor clean air and water, they also want affordable food and energy prices, but thanks to a series of bad policy decisions on the part of U.S. and Western leaders, they can't have both. The global financial system was sent into a tailspin after leaders around the world decided to shut down -- and tank -- their economies over the COVID-19 pandemic, and the world has yet to recover. The economic system is out of whack and it's not clear at this point what will bring it back into alignment, but in the meantime, there is a crisis building regarding the cost of food that is directly related to skyrocketing oil and energy prices. Bloomberg News has more: Global food prices jumped toward a record last month, further adding to the surging cost of living for consumers. The United Nations’ index of prices rose 1.1% in January, pushed up by more expensive vegetable oils and dairy. The gauge is edging closer to 2011’s all-time high, and unfavorable weather for crops and the fallout from an energy crisis threaten to keep prices high going forward. While it's true that inflation has become rampant in the United States, it's actually become a global problem: According to the United Nation's world food index, household budgets will be further pressured as prices continue to rise for basic items. What's more, the cost of producing food is also skyrocketing, and "that's particularly bad news for the poorest consumers and nations with the least disposable income," Bloomberg noted. The poorest “segments in the population will feel the pinch the most,” Josef Schmidhuber, deputy director for markets and trade at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, told the news outlet in an interview last week. He added: “High energy costs and high food costs and high necessities — they account for a large part of their overall expenditures.” Sugar was the only commodity whose prices seemed to stabilize in January, but meat, grain, dairy and vegetable oil costs all rose. Countries all around the world are affected, Bloomberg noted. Most of the rise in food prices is linked to the spike in oil and energy prices, which in turn is going to affect production and, thus, supply -- feeding the inflation cycle. "Surging energy prices have bolstered the appeal of crop-based biofuels and raised the cost of fertilizers and fuel for farmers," Bloomberg continued. "That could force cutbacks on farm inputs, particularly in developing nations, which may increase reliance on crop imports if harvests falter, Schmidhuber said." As of Friday, crude oil prices rose to a seven-year high, climbing above $92 a barrel even as a major winter storm blanketed much of the central and northeastern U.S. in snow and plunging temperatures, both of which added to existing worries about supply. “The latest upswing was triggered by a cold snap in Texas, which is fueling concerns about production outages in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale play. A year ago, a period of extreme cold weather had caused massive disruptions to oil production there,” wrote Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank, in a note to clients, according to Bloomberg. Consumers are also paying more at the gas pump, thanks to the Biden regime's war on fossil fuels. As reported by OilPrice.com, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.423, or more than $1.20 higher per gallon than when President Donald Trump left office. "On February 4, the average price in every state in the United States was above $3 per gallon, including in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama, which traditionally have the lowest state-wide average price of gasoline, according to AAA data. California’s average gasoline price was $4.663 on Friday," the outlet added. Americans want a clean environment, but the fact is, with today's technology, we can have both -- clean air and water and a healthy supply of affordable energy. But not under the current regime, apparently. Sources include: OilPrice.com ClimateDepot.com
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