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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
5

Economic 'Mismatches' Mean Food Crisis Is Here to Stay

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(Newser) – The various sectors of the global economy have become so entwined with food production that prices are acting in a very “puzzling” manner, the Economist reports. Last year, the market responded rationally to the global food crisis of 2007-08, increasing production and thus lowering prices. But with another bumper crop expected, prices are up, “increasing at a time of plenty.”

The response to the food crisis isn’t just troubling academically. Farmers responded by putting more land into cultivation, a practice that cannot hope to meet skyrocketing demand. More, production increased overwhelmingly in industrialized nations, depriving poor countries that consume most of the produce of potential fruits of their labor: “The spike of 2008 did not signal a mere bubble—but rather, a genuine mismatch of supply and demand.”

A Pakistani displaced boy peels potatoes for refugees at the kitchen of Jalozai camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.
A Pakistani displaced boy peels potatoes for refugees at the kitchen of Jalozai camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.   (AP Photo)
A displaced girl sits on a sack of wheat in Pakistan.
A displaced girl sits on a sack of wheat in Pakistan.   (AP Photo)
A woman works in the field of a Tanzanian farm.
A woman works in the field of a Tanzanian farm.   (AP Photo)
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The failure of farmers in poor countries to respond to price signals does not mean they are deaf to them. Rather the signals they get are often scrambled or muted. - Economist

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5 comments
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TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 5, 09 12:18 PM CDT
Have the food producers learned business barracuda-ism from Big Oil? Reply
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freethemall
Jul 5, 09 12:56 PM CDT
It would seem to me that the supply of food and everything else, in the long run, is going to be insufficient to satisfy the demand, as the population of the planet increases exponentially. Reply
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Sauerkraut
Jul 5, 09 1:28 PM CDT
they've already placed the human population cap at 10 billion people. They say something always happens to keep us from going over that number or something. ill look into it again, and see wtf they were talking about.
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Silverbow7
Jul 5, 09 3:49 PM CDT
I heard we can cut the world's population in half in one generation if we do what China did and limit each female to one child. Some will have more than one accidentally, like twins, and some will not have any so it would even out. I don't know what to think about that but it seems to be the only real solution. Better than millions starving to death at the very least. Reply
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+4
riffran
Jul 5, 09 8:04 PM CDT
good luck with that.....between faith based motives to have as many children as possible to tribal customs in less developed areas...(Im a virile man I fathered 15 children with 8 wives..type of thing)...I don't see it happening Reply
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+2
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