Corn Field & Sign (photo by Eugenia Beecher, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Millions of American families are reeling from increased gas and food prices and the Associated Press has reported that the Midwest’s recent floods are likely to drive food prices even higher.

According to the AP article:

In the latest bout of food inflation, beef, pork, poultry and even eggs, cheese and milk are expected to get more expensive as livestock owners go out of business or are forced to slaughter more cattle, hogs, turkeys and chickens to cope with rocketing costs for corn-based animal feed.

The report goes on to say, “The floods engulfed an estimated 2 million or more acres of corn and soybean fields in Iowa, Indiana, Illinois and other key growing states, sending world grain prices skyward on fears of a substantially smaller corn crop.”

To get a better understanding of how American food production has become so heavily reliant on corn we suggest your rent or buy the DVD “King Corn.” It’s a wonderfully entertaining documentary that will make you laugh while giving you an excellent primer on corn-based food production in the American Midwest.

If you’d like to read the Associated Press article as posted by Yahoo! go to: Record corn prices mean more expensive meat, dairy