Food Inflation Riots Break Out In Haiti

Food inflation riots break out in Haiti as people take to the streets to protest price increases up to 50% over the past year for basic items like cooking oil and rice.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere so the increased prices for food has been especially painful for those living in that impoverished nation.

With prices of basic food items raising at an accelerating rate worldwide can further food riots be expected? I would say that unless the impossible can happen fast and the production of food commodities has a great leap forward the answer to that question is a big yes.

Demand is outpacing supply in rice, corn, wheat, and soybeans and there is only so much land suitable to grow these crops. Food stockpiles of these vital crops are at nearly 30 year lows. There is hardly any cushion of reserves to fall back on.

Unfortunately, even in a rich nation (for some) like America the cost of food is beginning to be a concern. There are already a record number of Americas receiving food stamps. As prices of food and other items rise the budgets of many working class American families are under great stress.

Could there ever be food riots in America? I hope we don’t have occasion to find out. But the effects of climate change that may cause long term, really long term, drought conditions across much of the food production regions of the US are a cause for concern.

People can get lean and mean in a hurry when there is the danger of starving.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!