Food prices hitting 'dangerous levels'

THE head of World Bank said another 44 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty by high food costs since last June. "Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world," World Bank president Robert Zoellick told reporters last Tuesday in Washington, D.C. "The price hike is already pushing millions of people into poverty and putting stress on the most vulnerable, who spend more than half of their income on food." Zoellick made the comments as his organization released the latest edition of its "Food Price Watch" report. World Bank's food price index climbed 15% between last October and January. Last month, the index was 29% higher than year ago (Figure). "Among grains, global wheat prices have risen the most, doubling between June 2010 and January 2011," World Bank said...more