Price Fluctuations A Threat To Food Security According To The UN

UN Warns Volatile Food Prices Threat To Food Security -- Voice of America

United Nations experts are describing volatile food prices as a major threat to food security. At a special meeting of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome Friday, they concluded that a repeat of the 2007-2008 food price crisis is not imminent, but new measures are needed to control fluctuations in grain markets.

Russia's exceptional drought and the country's ban on wheat exports have pushed up wheat prices to two-year highs. The increases have brought back bad memories of price spikes in 2007 and 2008, which triggered food riots in several countries around the world. But FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf says conditions are much different today. "The global production forecast for cereals in 2010 is still the third highest on record, and the world cereal stocks-to-use ratio is well above the 30-year low registered in 2007-2008," he said.

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My Comment: Another UN call for governments to intervene forcefully in food prices and production .... as if that worked well in the past. If there is one universal constant in food production, it is that when governments intervene in influencing prices .... food shortages and higher food prices tend to be the result.