I Use Google News to Track World Beer Prices

All images by Tom Long. Grabbed from his interview on Fecal Face.

With little useful agricultural land, Japan can only produce around 40 percent of the food that its 128 million people consume every year—the lowest among industrialized nations.

That means the country is especially hard hit by fuel costs, which make importing a larger burden than in other developed nations.

In the past year, the cost of instant noodles has risen 17 percent, spaghetti is up 13 percent, and mayonnaise 10 percent. In April, butter practically disappeared from supermarket shelves as surging global grain prices made it impossible for Japan's dairy farmers to import enough feed to increase milk production.

"Japan's Thirst for Beer Quashed By High Price of Imports," National Geographic, June 3 2008



These last two might convince you to find a bigger monitor.