Food Prices Go Up, Creating ‘Food Gaps’ in Poor Countries

Just as food aid for developing countries is stagnating, food prices are rising. It's a troubling combination, according to a recent article published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The ERS tells a now-familiar tale: Oil prices are up, rising food prices. Corn is increasingly used for fuel, not food. And so food prices, once declining, are now on the rise.What will happen as very poor countries are required to spend more of their incomes on imported food? The ERS projects that a "food gap" will increase in across the globe — the most in Latin America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, food aid donations have remained constant.One "silver lining" discovered by the ERS is the potential of biofuel production to help rural economies.