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Special representative of the secretary general for food security and nutrition David Nabarro recently spoke on the BMJ Food for Thought podcast and pointed out that many price swings for items such as rice or wheat can allow individuals to grow their cash.
He explained that food prices are not too dissimilar to the value of oil, saying: "[They] go at roughly the same rate in terms of rising and falling as oil prices do, especially when oil is above about $60 or $70 per barrel."
Mr Nabarro noted that the cost of food has calmed down significantly recently, but there are still several commodities in the sector that saw their prices grow rapidly towards the end of 2010.
Writing for PSFK, Timothy Ryan suggested speculation on such items has had a negative effect on world food production, citing comments by industry expert Frederick Kaufman.
Posted by Greg Secker
