Nightly News   |  February 15, 2011

Food costs reach crisis proportions

The World Bank warned Tuesday that huge spikes in commodity prices have reached dangerous levels, as rising food costs could push millions into poverty. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> one of the triggers for this revolutionary fervor sweeping across the middle east , the sharply rising cost of food. it was a factor in the uprising in iegypt. the world bank said today that huge spikes in commodities prices have led to soaring prices that could push millions of people into poverty, we are not exempt here at home. this is about to be a bigger story in the u.s.

>> reporter: however you spend your money, what you wear, how you travel, eat or pay at the pump, get ready to dig deeper , because almost everything you buy will soon cost you more. and it's at the grocery store where we may get slammed the hardest, especially those in lower incomes.

>> no matter where you're going, you're going to see your budget attacked. you're going to have to make decisions.

>> reporter: food prices rose 29% in the last year. while americans spend just over 9% of household income on food, for many in the developing world who live on pennines a day, the price increases are staggering.

>> when you're spending 80 or 90% of your income on food, just a 5% increase has a tremendous impact on your lifestyle.

>> reporter: we've already seen food riots in the middle east and elsewhere as the price of daily bread skyrockets. what's driving up the price of food? the weather, floods in australia, drought in russia. at the same time, increased demand from emerging markets like india and china, where people are living better and eating more. there is also speculation which frederick kaufmann says is art officially driving prices higher. the markets have been subverted, the whole thing has been thrown out of whack. that's what we're experiencing. consumers are going to feel this in the next eight, nine, ten months.

>> reporter: it's here where you can witness the trade in commodities, orders so far this year are way up.

>> reporter: the demand for food will likely continue to increase.

>> if everybody in the world ate like we did, it would require another two world's to produce the food we eat.

>> reporter: how will we pay for it? if we all had to pay for it in that way, it's going to be a situation that's hurting a lot of families across this country.

>> kevin tibbles, thanks.