Inflation

MIAMI -- Some stores in South Florida and across the U.S. are placing rice restrictions on their customers after an Australian drought crippled rice production. Throughout the U.S. and in Miami, merchants and restaurateurs said the price of rice is high.

As the world faces its first global food crisis since World War II, even American consumers are starting to fret. Media reports are starting to trickle in about grocers limiting some food purchases, while Costco Wholesale Corp. is seeing higher-than-usual demand for staple foods such as rice and flour as consumers appear to be stocking up.

It would be inhuman to understate the global food crisis. With food prices up as much as 45 per cent since the end of 2006, El Salvador's poor eat about half as much food as they did a year ago. In Haiti, a destitute population is turning increasingly to mud patties made of dirt, oil and sugar, which at least quieten the stomach.

Food riots seem to be happening around the world on a near-daily basis lately.

Mary Ornales' food stamps don't last long these days. Six months ago, the monthly allotment from the federal food program fed the South Austin mother and her four young children for the whole month. Now, it barely stretches three weeks. "I feel like it's going faster, and I have to buy more things myself," said Ornales, 25.

A top British Government official has warned that the rush towards biofuels is threatening world food production and the lives of billions of people. According to a report in the Times of London, John Beddington, the British Government's chief scientific adviser, has issued the warning in a statement.

Soaring prices of staples — which have risen about 75% since 2005, driven by growing demand, rising oil prices and the effects of global warming — have sparked riots in several countries, as people reel from sticker shock and governments scramble to feed their people. Crowds tore through three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso late last week, burning government buildings and looting stores; when officials tried to talk peace with one group of protesters, the enraged crowd hurled stones at them. The riots followed similar violent protests over food prices in Senegal and Mauritania earlier this year. And, last October, protesters in India burned hundreds of food-ration stores after stockpiles emptied, leaving thousands of people unfed.

wo worrisome trends for the U.S. economy - falling home prices and the rising cost of everything else - picked up speed in data reported Tuesday, putting policy makers in an increasingly tough position.

The "BRIC" nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are all experiencing rising inflation and adopting similar measures to prevent prices of goods spiraling out of control, according to a report by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

MIDLAND, Va. — The Labor Department’s most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose by 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in June, but a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the American diet are actually rising by double digits.