Food Prices

I know next to nothing about food prices although I did listen to a BBC radio programme in the car the other day blaming the speculators for much of the steep increases in certain food items such as wheat. The other day I also read an arcticle somewhere complaining about certain governments stockpiling various food stuffs and blaming those governments rather than the speculators for the steep increases in certain products. Simon Nixon http://blogs.wsj.com/simonnixon/ has written a very interesting blog stating that the EU research for a report on food prices had also found no evidence that speculators had caused the steep food price rises but that this part of the report was excised at the request of Sarkozy. It is appalling how evidence of this kind is manipulated in this way. It always shocks me that politicians, civil servants and others can behave in this way. Naive or what but there you are. Anyway, getting back to the point, one of the reasons it seems for the unrest in Tunisia and Egypt and no doubt in other places either currently having demonstrations or about to do so, is the cost of food. Governments stockpiling food like Russia did last summer and of course the Common Agricultural Policy are the biggest reasons for price rises and thus unrest in the Middle East. It really is urgent that the Common Agricultural Policy is terminated. That is the least we can do for the poor of the world.