By Alessandria Masi - Cereal is America’s favorite breakfast food. But according to a new report from Oxfam International, many Americans wil realize over the next 15 years that they can no longer afford a bowl of cereal.
Oxfam estimates that by 2030, Kellogg's Corn Flakes will get a 44 percent price increase and General Mills’ KIX will undergo a 24 percent price hike.
Oxfam put part of the blame on what the authors refer to as the “Big 10” -- the 10 largest food and beverage companies. If companies such as Kellogg's and General Mills do not reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the price of cereal-staple crops such as corn, rice and wheat could double by 2030 and those companies could fall into financial ruin.
"If the Big 10 food and beverage companies were a single country, it would be the 25th most polluting country in the world,” the report stated.
And cereal wouldn't be the only thing that could go missing from our diets. Damaging and unexpected weather patterns due to climate change have already led to “crop failures, food price spikes, and supply disruptions," according to the report. "The end result will be more poverty and hunger."
If changes aren't made, Oxfam anticipates it will alter the way all of us eat. “The poorest, most vulnerable people are being hit first and worst,” the report stated. “But all of us will be affected.”