Their families are struggling for food as shortages send prices beyond the reach of poorer families.

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But prices for such basics as food and fuel have soared.

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As for the core business, Jain foresees a dramatic increase in global food prices in the next three years.

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The strong currency has helped to boost purchasing power, especially that of poorer Brazilians for whom lower food prices are a particular boon (as is a government anti-poverty programme that reaches 11m families).

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It is no wonder then, that stricken farmers turn apoplectic when they visit the supermarket and discover that shop prices for the food they produce seem to be as high as ever.

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In contrast, Mr. McCain has even proposed tax cuts here, pledging to repeal the 54 cents per gallon tariff on sugar-based ethanol, as well as sugar import quotas, which should help to lower prices for gas and food.

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Delegates left Rome without consensus on key issues such as the increased demand for crops to produce biofuels and the impact on world food prices, and there is also no agreement on the lifting of trade barriers and the issue of farm subsidies, officials said.

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This could lead to food shortages and higher food prices, as well as encouraging deforestation of areas to make way for biofuel crops.

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U.S. farmers paid more for high quality Genuity reduced refuge corn and Roundup ready 2 yield soybean seeds as global food prices hit historic highs.

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Data last week showed food inflation remained above 11% for the second straight month in February as prices of protein-rich foods such as eggs, fish and meat as well as those of vegetables including onions and potatoes rose sharply.

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This is because the strain on subsidies is bound to increase as the government usually raises the state-assured prices paid to farmers every year for procuring food grain stocks, while the supply price would remain frozen under the proposed law, he added.

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Analysts from the OECD to the World Bank argue that biofuel demand is the biggest single reason why food prices have soared in the past couple of years, accounting for as much as 70% of the rise in maize prices and 40% of the rise in soyabean prices.

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This serves as a proxy for all of our commodity-related expenses such as food and fuel, and, as the effects of currency devaluation spread, rising prices for all sorts of goods and services.

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Although it now clearly looks like a bubble, at the time, there were many who justified the prices paid for tulips by comparing their relative value to other food and commodities such as wheat, rye, swine, and cheese.

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At the event, USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber warned of record farm prices for corn, wheat, and soyabeans for 2011, and resulting US food inflation of at least 4% this year and next as prices work their way through the supply chain.

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Some argue that using farmland for ethanol pushes up food prices internationally (world wheat prices rose 25% this week alone, perhaps as a side-effect of America's ethanol programme).

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