August 9, 2012

Global food prices are rising due to wild swings in weather conditions, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today. The drought in the United States, combined with untimely rains in Brazil and production problems in Russia, sent food prices up by 6 percent in July 2012. The severe deterioration of the U.S. corn crop due to extensive drought damage pushed corn prices up by more than 30 percent in July. Cereal prices climbed by 17 percent and sugar by 12 percent. (Corn is an especially important source of sugar-rich syrups in the United States. The consumption of corn sweeteners in the United States is about equal to the consumption of sucrose.)

Drought conditions in the United States have caused severe damage to corn crops, pushing up food prices worldwide. (AP/Wide World photo)

Rising food prices have already caused a food crisis in the Sahel sub-region of west and central Africa, affecting more than 18 million people. The situation has renewed fears of the kind of food crisis that resulted in violent street protests in Egypt and Haiti in 2007 and 2008. “This is not some gentle wake-up call–it’s the same global alarm that’s been screaming at us since 2008,” notes Hannah Stoddart, Oxfam’s head of economic justice policy. (Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations that work directly with communities to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods.)

July 2012 was the hottest single month on record for the continental United States since record keeping began in 1895, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported yesterday. The average temperature across the lower 48 states was 77.6 °F (25.3 °C), 3.3 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average. The first seven months of the year were the warmest of any year on record and were drier than average. The excessive heat and drought have led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to declare more than half of all counties in the United States disaster zones.

Additional World Book articles:

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• When the Rain Stops (a special report)