Here we go again!

Thank you Sonia for bringing this to our attention. Today's Guardian reports that 'financial speculators have come under renewed fire for their bets on food prices, blamed for raising the costs of goods such as coffee and chocolate and threatening the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries'. It goes on to say that 'The World Development Movement's report - Great Hunger Lottery says "risky and secretive" financial bets on food prices have exacerbated the effect of poor harvests in recent years. It argues that volatility in food prices has made it harder for producers to plan what to grow, pushed up prices for British consumers and in poorer countries risks sparking civil unrest, like the food riots seen in Mexico and Haiti in 2008'. Food riots in 2008? That was hush-hush. Imagine had they happened in Cuba or Venezuela? We'd never be allowed to forget them. Come to think of it, there were no food riots in either of those countries. Sorry, yes, if we believe the way the West instructs us to believe, that would be because of 'repression'. Back to the report. Don't think that we in the West go unscathed as the Guardian quotes Deborah Doane of WDM, "Nobody benefits from this kind of reckless gambling except a few City wheeler-dealers. British consumers suffer because it pushes up inflation, because of unpredictable oil and raw material prices, and the world's poorest people suffer because basic foods become unaffordable."
So what happened to all that talk in the past 2 years that our banks and society have learnt their lesson?? Yeah, the only lesson learnt was where it went wrong in getting sustainable profits. But who is to challenge this?