The End of Cheap Food?

For 31 years, starting in 1974, food prices steadily fell. Then, abruptly, over the past two years, food prices have risen sharply. What’s behind the recent price explosion? What’s ahead? Who will be hurt and who will benefit? We’ll provide the answers.

Between 1974 and 2005, food prices around the world dropped by 75 percent, in real terms. After two decades of steadily falling prices, it seemed that the trend would continue indefinitely. But then something amazing happened: Between 2005 and 2007, global f.....