A global surge in the cost of food is making it harder for families to put meals on the table, with prices for staples like wheat and rice rising to record highs. The high costs have sparked riots in several African nations, the Caribbean, Indonesia and Haiti and the United Nations has expressed deep concern over the fact that millions of people around the world are going to go hungry due to the crisis.
World Vision, one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, won't be able to provide food to 1.5 million of the 7.5 million poor it fed last year - 572,000 of those are children. The World Food Program says the food crisis will impact 20 million of the world's poorest youngsters.
The rising demand for food by the ever-growing middle class in nations such as China and India, the increased demand for biofuels, rising oil costs, unpredictable weather and global stocks at 25-year lows are being blamed for the surge in prices.
World Vision blames rich countries not living up to their donor commitments for the millions of people going without food.
The high price of basic fare is being felt in Toronto as well, with store owners being forced to charge more and consumers feeling a bit pinched.
"It's costing me about $50 more a week," Tom Majewski said Wednesday in Kensington Market. "And that basically means I have to work more now."
Some store owners have reported the cost of wheat has doubled recently and the price of rice is expected to jump. The cost of rice has more than doubled in the last five weeks, according to Josette Sheeran of the World Food Program.
"What we are seeing now is affecting more people on every continent," she said.
The current situation is the first global food crisis since the Second World War.