Climate Crisis To Trigger Huge Surge In Food Prices
The climate is killing and thinning out crops around the world. Perhaps the best-known example now is the rising price of chocolate caused by a nearly ruined cocoa crop due to weather changes in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
Hurricane Causes –Rich Nations?
Climate-triggered drought has made some portions of central Africa so dry that no crops can be planted. This has triggered a migration of the population to places where they are more likely to find food. Scientists believe these food-driven migrations will rise.
According to the FT, “There’s a material impact from climate change on global food prices,” says Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC. “It’s easy to shrug off individual events as being isolated, but we’ve just seen such a sequence of abnormal events and disruptions that, of course, add up to climate change impact.”
A Food Price Recession?
How significant is the problem? The US offers an example. About 13% of household expenses in America are food-related. That has worsened in some cases because of food price spikes, as seen in the CPI. Food inflation has caused McDonald’s to bring down menu prices by offering $5 meals to offset customers who find its current menu too expensive.
Americans already believe inflation continues to be high. Much of this is related to something other than food, including interest rates. However, if food prices surge, the American consumer will be squeezed. An American squeezed by prices often precedes a recession.
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