Spike in Crop Prices May Signal 'Chronic Food Crisis'

The spike in crop prices this year may be an early glimpse into a chronic food crisis that could unfold over the next forty years, says well-known money manager Jeremy Grantham.

We are "about five years into a chronic global food crisis that is unlikely to fade for many decades, at least until the global population has considerably declined from its likely peak of over nine billion in 2050," wrote GMO's Grantham in his recent quarterly letter to investors.

"It will threaten poor countries with increased malnutrition and starvation and even collapse," he added. "Resource squabbles and waves of food-induced migration will threaten global stability and global growth."

In the last three months alone, wheat prices (:Wc1) are up 41 percent, corn (:Cc1) is up 29 percent and prices for soybeans (:Sc1) are up 17 percent.

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