World recession will have significant impact on the price of food around the globe

摘要

As the world, the western developed part of it at least, plunges further into economic depression it is worth considering what the current and developing recession will have on the demand for and the price of food. Apart from population growth and climatic variation, the most important influence on the demand for food is the state of the world economy. World economic activity affects the demand for food in at least four ways. In times of increasing economic growth, the aggregate demand for food willincrease. At the same time growth will - depending on the regional pattern - affect the pattern of demand for food. In developed countries, growth will stimulate a trend away from staples and towards more luxurious foods; in developing countries, by andlarge, it will increase the overall demand for food. It will also have the secondary effect of increasing consumption of the higher protein and fats of meat and dairy products.