As Food Prices Rise, Lobster Treads Water

(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.” More»

Cost of crustaceans hits 25-year low

(NEWSER) - Prices are dropping on all sorts of luxury goods—and lobster, now less than $10 a pound, is no exception. It’s the lowest price in 25 years, and might not last as fishermen give up on the trade. Spending $30 for the star of a weeknight dinner at home still isn’t cheap, admits New York Times food writer Melissa Clark, but lobster is a perfect recession splurge. More»

Out-of-control traders may be driving up oil, food costs, pols say

(NEWSER) - Congress is blaming rampant commodity speculation for rocketing gas and food prices, and berating regulators for letting it happen, the New York Times reports. Unless watchdog groups like the Commodities Futures Trading Commision crack down, Carl Levin says, "we don’t have a cop on the beat.." Joe Lieberman has even introduced a bill to ban institutional investors from commodity markets. More»

A conscience-clearing letter to the author's slain-in-the-name-of-succulence dinner

(NEWSER) - Francis Lam eases his guilt about chowing down on a certain tasty crustacean by creating an unlikely enemy on his dinner plate, writing an open-ended letter to “Lobster” in Gourmet. He's not sorry for chowing down, "for your meat was like butter and nuts," but his conscience is uneasy: “I had to pretend you had done something awful,” Lam writes, “maybe to my mother.” More»

Cartel may meet early and backpedal on current policy

(NEWSER) - As crude hit $125 a barrel today, one OPEC member said the cartel may boost oil production to relieve prices, the New York Times reports. The move would conflict with OPEC's public stand that speculators, not oil supplies, have been keeping prices high. “We would consider among other options the possibility of increasing output as a way to ensure market stability,” Libya's top oil official said. More»