Drought, demand push up food prices in Australia: report

Terra Daily, via Agence France-Presse: Drought and increased global demand are behind hikes in food prices, a leading Australian bank said Wednesday as it warned grocery bills could remain permanently higher.

ANZ said recent price increases in staples reflected the temporary impact of unusual weather and that prices would revert to more normal levels once Australia's worst drought in a generation broke. "The current sharp growth rates in world agricultural prices should not be sustained," ANZ economists said in a report entitled "Food Stress"...