US Nearing End of Cheap Food Era?

Thursday, 17 March 2011 | by Pat's Picks

The average American spends about 10 percent of their income on food. Elsewhere in the world that number is closer to 70 percent. But the jump in wholesale food prices last month—the highest in 37 years—prompts the LA Times to ask whether cheap food may be a thing of the past in this country. Several factors—“the fall of the U.S. dollar, slowing growth in crop yields, political unrest in the Middle East, high crude oil prices and a revived interest in crop-based biofuels”—have cropped up recently that might end the era of abundantly affordable food, none of which seem likely to disappear anytime soon.