Food Prices Changing Diets, Oxfam-Backed Survey Says Almost two-
fifths of consumers surveyed in 17 countries said high food
prices have changed their diets, with people in poorer nations
hit hardest by increased costs. More than half said they eat
different food than two years ago, mainly for cost and health
reasons, according to the survey of more than 16,000 people by
Globescan Inc., a Toronto-based researcher, for Oxfam
International. Global food prices have increased 37 percent in
the past year, the United Nations says. “Huge numbers of people,
especially in the world’s poorest countries, are cutting back on
the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising
food prices,” Raymond Offenheiser, the president of the U.S.
affiliate of Oxford, UK- based Oxfam, said in a news release.
The results of the survey were released today. The world’s
population is forecast to jump to 9.3 billion in 2050 from an
estimated 6.9 billion in 2010, requiring a 70 percent increase
in food production, according to t