Missing from declarations on the food crisis emerging from last week's G8 meeting and June's UN Food Summit has been a call for a more thorough examination of who is profiting from high food prices. And further, are they profiting unfairly?
Last week, European antitrust enforcers raided the Italian offices of grain giants Cargill and Bunge. According to a short statement by the European Commission, investigators said "they had reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EC treaty rules on cartels and restrictive business practices."
The jaw-dropping profits these companies have reaped certainly deserves scrutiny. In April, Cargill reported an 86 percent increase in quarterly net earnings over a year ago. Bunge's 2008 first quarter net income was up 1,974 percent from 2007.
As we try to understand all aspects of the current food crisis, there's an old saying of journalists and investigators worth revisiting: "follow the money."
