Are India & China really straining the food market so that prices are sky-high everywhere? Ethenol, oil,?

draughts-don't all of these factor in as well? I truly believe that it will all get worse before it gets better, but how much can Americans take? We haven't had to live 'hard' in such a long time. Gas prices here (WI) are now $4.00 a gallon. It's harder and harder to feed my family. Our income has not gone up, but nearly every retail item has. Even natural gas (to heat our homes) and electricity rates are up. Will my husbnd still have a job a year from now? I keep hearing that there is a huge rise in the middle class in both India %26amp; China and because of this they want better quality or more western type foods thus adding strain to the demand of food worldwide. But Australia had a 2 yr. draught killing their wheat crops and what about oil @ $125 a barrel? What choice of distribution doesn't need oil? The stepped up production of ethenol has got farmers planting tons of corn instead of wheat/soybeans. Now what?

Are India %26amp; China really straining the food market so that prices are sky-high everywhere? Ethenol, oil,?
Yes, some believe that the new Chinese and Indian middle class can put a strain on the world's resources for some time to come. The drought like you said in Australia, could do only so much. Oil is also becoming very expensive as a consequence of being put on the future's market for speculation.





Short term answers here are to strengthen the American Dollar. Since oil is trading in U.S. $ and a weak dollar means more $ for oil, trade deficits have to be cut (easier said than done) and the budget deficit has to be brought down so bonds aren't sold to foreigners to help fund American deficits.





Ethanol fuel standards should be temporarily suspended, to allow more corn to be available for farm feed, since corn is used to feed cows, chickens, turkeys.





These are only suggestions, but if better action isn't taken our economy could run flat for a while.
Reply:If gas prices are having a negative impact on your household economy you may want to ride a bike or take the bus to work.