Basic food prices to rocket with unchecked climate change, says FOE
New figures published by Friends of the Earth show that the price of staple foods is set to increase four and a half times above normal inflation because the changing climate will put extra stress on land and resources around the world exacerbating the existing food crisis. The prices include �6.50 for a loaf of bread �7 for a box of cornflakes and �18 for a pint of beer � prices we could face in 2030 unless urgent action is taken to prevent dangerous climate change. The figures have been produced by Ray Hammond a leading expert in predicting future social and economic trends and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford's Institute for the Future of Humanity. He modelled the future prices of consumer foodstuffs for Friends of the Earth using previous price hikes recorded by the World Bank and projections by the International Food Policy Research Institute.Projected prices of other staple foods in 2030 include: �6.48 for a 800g loaf of white bread (now 72p would be �1.44 with normal inflation); �15.21 for 1kg of basmati rice (now �1.69 would be �3.38 with normal inflation); �7.20 for 500g corn flakes (now 78p would be �1.56 with normal inflation); and �18.45 for a pint of Pilsner lager (now �2.05 would be �4.05 with normal inflation).Friends of the Earth Head of Climate Mike Childs said: This vision of life in 2030 shows that life with climate change won't be pretty it'll be pricey � the cost of simple foods like bread and rice will rocket and millions more people will go hungry here in the UK alone. The root causes of the food crisis must also be tackled. We need urgent political action to create fair global food supplies and make farming planet-friendly � from field to fork our food currently creates up to half of all greenhouse gas emissions.