The paradox of Latin America’s food crisis is that, although the region is a major food producer, it sometimes needs to rely on imports to prevent sporadic shortages. According to the World Bank, Latin America and the Caribbean exported $55 billion of foodstuffs in 2006; yet the continent’s poorest families spend 50% of their budgets on food, and this at a time when Latin America has been experiencing its best economic performance since the 1970’s.