| Wheat Prices Scorching Everyone's Buns |
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| Written by Heather McKee | |
| Monday, 25 February 2008 | |
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Well, we may be on the cusp of an expensive Twinkie. And though you’ve probably forgotten it’s actually in there – wheat is the reason. Wheat prices are continuing to thunder ahead. After doubling over 2007, wheat prices gained another 20% just since the beginning of the year, reaching a new record of eleven dollars and thirty-two cents a bushel this month. The worldwide lunge toward biofuels, particularly corn ethanol, has decreased the number of farmers growing wheat. And drought in Australia, extreme heat in Canada, and muddy harvest times in Europe have all contributed to the ballooning value of the commodity.
Everyone from pig and chicken farmers to local bakeries are feeling the scorch of wheat prices. And unfortunately, those farmers who stuck with wheat are not necessarily reaping the benefits of the price increase, because many of them agreed on pre-harvest prices with their processors.
Honestly though, we Americans have had our way with cheap food for many years. Thanks to increased disposable incomes and continued government subsidies on grain crops, Americans spend less of their incomes on food than nearly any other developed country. In fact, less and less every year.
So really, when our Twinkie and artisan bread prices rise with the price of wheat, we should be able to pay. But what does that mean for other places that also need wheat?
For now, I’ll bite my tongue when I pay an extra quarter for our baguettes at the local bakery, and hope that some of it is trickling down to Montana farmers. But I’ll also be wondering what my ability to pay more means for other countries’ abilities to eat.
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