Global food prices jump with highest rise in a decade Business June 4, 2021 LONDON: Global food prices surged by the biggest margin in a decade in May as one closely watched index jumped 40 percent, raising fears of further food inflation later in the year. The year-on-year leap in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s monthly food price index was the largest since 2011 and signalled that inflation initially stoked by pandemic disruption is accelerating. China’s soaring appetite for grain and soyabeans is adding to upward pressure on prices, along with a severe drought in Brazil and growing demand for vegetable oil for biodiesel.