Tuesday, August 14, 2012

THE PRICE OF CORN EXEMPLIFIES THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF THE WORLD


Sarah,


Food prices are really interesting to me.  This year in South Africa, the price of corn has risen 40%.  This is largely the result of a drought and heat wave in the United States which destroyed a large amount of this summer’s corn harvest.  The smaller supply has led to higher prices.  For a poor South African, this price increase is devastating.


Now the South Africans are looking to Brazil.  Brazil is also a major producer of corn and it has a different growing season because it is in the southern hemisphere.  Thus, Brazil’s crop will be harvested this winter.  If Brazil’s corn crop is healthy, prices will go back down.  If the harvest is weak, prices will stay high.


Bottom line- millions of poor people in Africa are dramatically affected by weather in completely different parts of the world.  That is crazy to me.

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