Food prices to skyrocket, riots could follow, suggests USDA
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Translation by Autumnson Blog
(NaturalNews) When the upswing in commodity prices eventually makes its way throughout the food system in mid-to-late 2011, food prices are sure to spike with levels potentially reaching those of 2008, announced U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) economist Ephraim Leibtag at the agency's annual Outlook Forum. And if conditions escalate rapidly, there is also the potential for food riots and other civil unrest.
（NaturalNews）當商品價格上升，最終在2011年中到年底來到整個食品體系，糧食價格肯定會有潛質升達2008年的水平，美國農業部（USDA）經濟學家以法蓮 Leibtag宣布，在該機構的年度展望論壇。及如果情況迅速升級，亦有潛質出現糧食騷亂和其它內亂。
The USDA is predicting a 3.5 percent increase in food prices in 2011, which is about twice the overall inflation rate but less than the 2008 increase, according to a recent Reuters report. In 2008, food prices rose 5.5 percent, which represents the highest increase since 1990. But the possibility of food prices dramatically rising in 2011 like they did in 2008 is a definite possibility.
美國農業部預測食品價格在2011年增長百分之3.5，那大約是整體通貨膨脹率的兩倍，但低於2008年的增加，根據最近的路透社報導。 在2008年，食品價格上漲百分之五點五，代表自1990年以來的最高增幅。但食品價格在2011年大幅上升的可能性，就像它們在2008年時般是一個肯定的可能性。
"Given that it's still earlier in the year, I'm prone to be conservative on the side of the forecast," said Leibtag. "It's a possibility," he added, concerning the likelihood of massive inflation in food costs like was seen in 2008.
“由於它在今年仍然是較早，我對預測的一方傾向保守，“Leibtag說。 “它是一個可能性，“他補充，關注到大型通貨膨脹的可能性，像在2008年看到的食品成本。
Leibtag also explained the agency's expectation of a four percent rise in costs for meats, poultry, and fish; a 3.5 percent increase for fruits and vegetables; a four percent increase for cereals and bakery products; and a three percent increase in sugar and sweets costs. All increases represent anywhere from a 20 to 60 percent increase over last year's increases.
In 2008, food shortages and rapid price increases led to riots in 25 different countries around the world. And the same may happen again, including even in the US, due to factors like the devaluation of the dollar, crop losses, rising oil costs, and other economic factors (http://www.naturalnews.com/031408_f...).
The warning serves as a wake-up call to Americans to take back their land and begin growing more food on the local and regional scale. According to statistics from Farm Aid, a family farming advocacy group, roughly five million US farms have been lost since the 1930s, and about 330 farmers every week leave their land. If this trend continues, the situation will only worsen.
Factory farming operations have essentially replaced local farming throughout the country. And government policies like subsidization of genetically-modified (GM) crops only continues to drive small-scale farmers off their land and exacerbate the problem.
To learn more about how to support local farming and regain food independence, visit:
http://www.farmaid.org
Sources for this story include:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110224...
http://www.naturalnews.com/031545_USDA_food_prices.html
20種跡象：一個可怕的全球性糧食危機在來臨中
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