A rising tide of global forces is supporting the surge in prices for important food staples such as meat, dairy and grains, commodity experts said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit on Tuesday.

“This is a pretty sustainable increase. … A number of factors have been building over time in terms of the commodity increase: world economic growth, rising crude oil prices, increased Chinese import demand all have conspired,” said Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a commodity analytical firm based in Omaha, Neb. Get the full story »