Food Prices Fall on World Markets but not for Most People

Food Prices Fall on World Markets but not for Most People

The global market prices of grains, vegetable, milk-based and other agricultural products have been falling. The price drops, however, have not yet made it to everyday buyers around the world. Around the world, food prices are staying painfully high.

Food prices were already high when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. The invasion caused major problems to the grain and fertilizer trade. Food prices rose quickly.

But on a global level, that price shock ended a while ago. The United Nations says global food prices have fallen for 12 straight months. Good harvests in places like Brazil and Russia and a wartime agreement that permitted grain shipments¹ out of the Black Sea helped lead to the drop in food prices.

Yet, prices at food stores are still rising. And that affects people everywhere, from the United States and Europe to struggling countries in the developing world.

Food prices were 19.5 percent higher in the European Union last month compared to a year earlier and 19.2 percent higher in Britain.

Joseph Glauber is former chief economist² at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said that the cost of agricultural products is just one reason for the continued high cost of food.

In the United States, food prices were up 8.5 percent last month compared to one year earlier. Glauber said that "75 percent of the costs are coming after it leaves the farm."

He added, "It's energy costs. It's all the processing costs. All the transportation costs. All the labor³ costs."

Food inflation⁴, Glauber said, "will come down, but it's going to come down slowly, largely because these other factors are still running pretty high."

Another reason for high food prices in the United States, observers say, is a wave of mergers⁶ that have reduced competition in the food industry.

White House officials last year noted⁷ that just four companies control 85 percent of the U.S. beef market. Beef is meat that comes from cows. Similarly, just four companies control 70 percent of the pork market and 54 percent of the poultry⁸ market. Pork meat comes from pigs; poultry is meat from birds including chickens and ducks.

Those companies, critics say, can use their market power to raise prices.

Glauber, who is now a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute, is not sure that mergers are the reason for high food prices. He agreed that big agribusinesses can bring in profits when prices rise. But things usually even out over time. And their earnings⁹ go down in other times.

"I couldn't point my finger at the fact that we just have a handful of meat producers," Glauber said.

In other countries, Glauber said, a strong U.S. dollar is to blame for keeping food prices high. In other high food price times, the dollar was not as strong.

Glauber said prices for corn and wheat are given in dollars per ton. Because of the strong dollar, people in other countries have not felt the price drops that have shown up in global food markets.

In Hungary, people are increasingly unable to deal with the biggest increases in food prices in the E.U., reaching 45 percent in March.

Joszef Varga is a fruit and vegetable seller in Budapest historic¹⁰ Grand Market Hall. He said wholesale¹¹ costs have risen by 20 to 30 percent. All his buyers have felt the increased prices – some more than others.

"Those with more money in their wallets buy more, and those with less buy less," he said.

In Pakistan, store owner Mohammad Ali said some customers are no longer buying meat. They buy more vegetables and beans instead. But even the price of vegetables, beans, rice and wheat are up as much as 50 percent.

Sitting in her home outside Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, 45-year-old Zubaida Bibi said, "Our life was never easy, but now the price of everything has increased so much that it has become difficult to live."

Words in This Story

global – adj. involving the entire world

factor – n. something that helps produce or influence a result

merger⁵ – n. the act or process of combining two or more businesses into one business

wallet – n. a small folding case that holds paper money or credit cards

1 shipments   

船运，水运( shipment的名词复数 )； （从海路、陆路或空运的）一批货物

参考例句：

• The shipments are being expedited as much as possible. 装货速度在尽量加快。
• We received two shipments from Chicago. 我们收到从芝加哥运来的两船货物。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

5 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

6 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

11 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。