Crop Prices

     History is about ready to repeat itself in a number of ways.  We are seeing the basic feed grains rise on a global basis in such a way that the global poor (which I have written about in previous blogs) are having serious problems gaining access to the minimal food needs that sustain them.

     Stories are beginning to populate the news about Egyptian bread riots, rice riots in the far east and india and countries pulling out of the global market in agriculture to preserve what they produce locally for local populations.  Exports are being banned so that the inflated global prices don't suck out all the local supplies leaving domestic consumers with a huge and unacceptable increase in food costs.

Let’s switch gears a minute and really go off the wall, since we have been looking at variation and crop prices in the last week or two. Some of you may be aware that there is a growing moment in the country to encourage the production of locally produced food. It is sometimes called the “slow food” movement which is to distinguish it from “fast food” which is almost uniformly condemned by everyone except those who consume it. The movement is more than just the local farmer’s market that may be springing up on your town square every weekend.