Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Food Prices Rise ... The Good and the Bad

The NY Times' story "Food Prices Rise - Farmers Respond" reports that some farmers are switching from corn to soybeans as more farm commodities rise in price, while USDA reports that the projected increase in soybean acreage has caused soybean prices to fall $.70 to $10.89.

Recognizing that there is no perfect answer to the conundrum about whether higher prices -- good for farmers, or lower prices for food commodities -- good for consumers is the right answer, we think it's only fair to remind our readers that these higher prices for farmers mean that farmers more or less are finally covering their costs of production. And that's a good thing. What is challenging is how to make sure that people's food needs -- both here and abroad, are met. We're not a big fan of people going hungry, and we're sure our readers aren't either.

However, it's always easy for consumers to blame farmers, but the reality is that there are huge ... we mean, HUGE! ... middlemen costs by the time the food gets to the grocery store, and somehow these costs never seem to shrink.
Maybe it's time to ask why.

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