Let Them Eat Free Markets

How deregulation fuels the global food crisis As the food crisis in Haiti worsens -- and rice and bean prices have increased 100 percent -- many turn to clay 'biscuits' as a source of food. The clay is mixed with salt and vegetable fat, then dried in the sun. Agriculture and food markets aren't like markets for clothes or automobiles. Food is a daily essential In April, crowds of angry Haitians — reduced to eating mud cakes to staunch hunger — erupted in deadly protests against high food prices, forcing the prime minister to resign. The price of rice, a staple of the Haitian diet, had risen 16 percent on the world market last year, then shot up 141 percent from January to April. Around the world, similar riots — or fears of them — have pushed governments to restrict exports, reduce tariffs, attack hoarding and take other... [read full story]