Rising wheat prices have far-reaching significance

Food prices reflect more than just increased demand. Rising prices for other commodities can have a compounding effect on food. Higher energy prices, for example, add to production and shipping costs.

That, in turn, can have grave implications for world health. For example, the U.N. found that the cost of food imported by the world’s neediest countries last year rose by 24 percent, to $107 billion, raising questions about nutrition.
Closer to home, it means higher prices for everything from lentil soup to Lucky Charms.

Speaking on CNBC last week, Tilman Fertitta, chief of Houston-based Landry’s Restaurants, said his company was seeing all its costs rise simultaneously, something he said he hasn’t experienced in 30 years in the restaurant business.

Farmers already are responding, increasing their wheat planting by 6 percent, and the USDA forecasts stockpiles will almost double this year. Production in Europe is expected to rise even higher, which may ease supply constraints, Bloomberg reported.

Houston Chronicle