The Associated Press reports:
Raging Midwest floodwaters that swallowed crops and sent corn and soybean prices soaring are about to give consumers more grief at the grocery store.
But not all consumers.
In the latest bout of food inflation, beef, pork, poultry and even eggs, cheese and milk are expected to get more expensive…
What do all these foods have in common, I wonder? The doubling of feed corn prices over the past year is wrecking the economics of the beef industry, since cattle are the least efficient of all farmed animals in turning grain to flesh. Says the head of one major feedlot: “This is not sustainable. The cattle industry is going to have to get smaller.”
One of the interesting things I learned in reading T. Colin Campbell’s work is that while China once had a lot of vegetarians, many were involuntarily vegetarian due to food scarcity. Looks like surging meat prices are going to create a similar effect in the United States. The question is: what are activists doing to prepare for this situation, and to ease people into meatless eating — especially the influx of people who will be making the switch due to economic necessity? And what are we doing to publicize the fact that going veggie — even part-time — is a terrific way to slash your food bill? Link.
