A mother tells her children, “Eat everything on your plate because tomorrow we may not have anything to eat.”

With each coming day, there is more information supporting this mother’s concern.

Pick a point on the globe and one may find that every major food staple is undergoing a staggering price increase, affecting various countries.

According to an article on the Washington Post web site, world food prices increased 80 percent from the beginning of 2005 to early 2008.

The exact cause of the food crisis is impossible to pinpoint because there are many factors to choose from, each relating to the other.

The demand for corn is greater now because it is being used to produce ethanol.

As a result, this is affecting the wheat market.

The wheat growers are turning to corn instead to profit from corn’s use as a biofuel

Milk prices are just about equal to the cost of a gallon of gasoline due to the growing demand in densely populated countries like China.

Rice prices have also increased due to the strain on the other resources.

The key word in the food price increase dilemma is demand.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, the world population increased from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion by 1999.

People in other countries make only a fraction of what one American makes per month.

However, poverty and hunger are not issues that only third-world countries are facing.

Although Americans may make more, they are faced with the same dire circumstances, high costs of food and not enough money.High food prices are not expected to decrease in the near future.

All one can do is buy only what will be consumed and not leave anything to spoil.

Now is the time when every single grain of rice or every drop of milk should be consumed with the utmost of apreciation.

Eat everything on your plate and don’t let food go to waste.