food might seem expensive, but its actually to cheap.
at least the base products of food like grain.
i sell my grain between 160 and 200 euro's per ton, wich is a much better price then we got for the last 15 years wich was always around 100 euro's.
thats the worldmarket price, and no farmer on earth can make grains for such a low price, you lose money by selling it at that price. thats why farmers in rich countries get subsidies so they can sell their products without going broke.
the problem is that poor countries cannot afford to pay their farmers, so they stop farming and buy cheap food from rich countries.
now today with 1000 kg of grains, they buy for 170 euro's, they make 2000 breads and sell them for about 3000 euro's.
thats where all the money goes, the price between farmer and consumer was multiplied by 17. while the price of grain is lower than 20 years ago... it's the intermediary persons that fill their pockets.
meh....
the only thing I really agree with in that post is your first sentence. Particularly for the US consumer. The US consumer spends less of his disposable income on food than any other nation in the world. Food (here in the US) is cheaper in that sense than it has ever been (even at current grain prices).
I make a decent living farming and draw no subsidies. And take a look at Australian (and I think New Zealand) farmers. Their countries do not subsidize farmers. The arguement could be made that I reap the benefits of farm programs even though I don't participate, but I can't control that. Without loan programs (price support), I do just fine.
I'm assuming you are talking about wheat prices when you say grain? We sell stuff by the bushel, so if I've got my conversions right...
1 metric ton = 2,204 pounds
60 pounds wheat = 1 bushel
1 metric ton = 36 bushels (aprox).
1 euro = $1.54
Your selling wheat at about $6.79 to $8.50 (US) per bushel.
On the exchanges here, July wheat closed at $7.71. The July contract has traded from about $7.60 to $12.60. If a US farmer can't make money at those prices (subsidies or no), he needs to find another vocation
Imo, the problem the US farmer has when competing in the world market is the restrictions on seed propogation and chemical use. We pay a premium for seed that we cannot "brown bag" (harvest, store and use to plant next season). The seed companies have gotten laws passed to prevent that. The US farmer either pays a premium for certain patented herbicides and pesticides that other farming countries do not. Not to mention the fact that herbicides and pesticides that are illegal to use/buy/sell in the US are still widely used in many other countries. (US consumers should be aware of that when they buy produce from our southern neighbor Mexico.)
I could go on and on. I watched two business "experts" on CNN this weekend espouse so much BS about the markets, price discovery, and how farmers have to charge more for their products because of rising prices. I would love to have a job where I could speak about something I know absolutely nothing about and get paid for it. Imagine my surprise when I discoverd that I could set my price for my perishable produce (or even my cotton). Sounds like some here must've seen the same show
Speculators are needed for price discovery. They play no part in the actual price paid to the farmer. The "basis" at the time of day determines that. The fact that they may or may not make money hardly affects the price of your food.
Too much info being glossed over.. that is never a good thing....