41.   A citrus-damaging California freeze caused the increase in food prices.

42.   A lingering drought has raised food prices and forced the government to spend its reserves on imported rice.

43.   A record grain harvest helped restrain food prices.

44.   Agriculture Department forecasts suggest farmers will harvest less corn this year, which could add pressure to food prices.

45.   All that will help keep food prices stable at the supermarket, too.

46.   But economists say most of those price increases appear to be the result of rising food prices, which in turn stemmed from bad weather last fall in Europe.

47.   But energy prices actually fell and food prices rose less than expected, providing a welcome surprise for credit market investors.

48.   But more and more, as world food prices stagnate, supporters have argued that closing farms would create enormous social dislocation and ecological damage to untended land.

49.   But what has economists and the financial markets edgy as they look ahead is that food prices are not the only ones going up this spring.

50.   Cafes and boutiques have been rebuilt and redecorated, street vendors are again amply stocked and food prices have descended from the stratosphere.