Haiti, Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia have all had food riots recently. Pakistan and Thailand have sent troops to protect fields and food warehouses. Food banks and other organizations that give food to the hungry are a growth industry here. The number of people who are on food stamps has never been higher. Global food prices have increased 83% in three years. Increased food prices are now a topic of daily conversation in the U.S.
There are many reasons for this difficult situation - increasing wealth of developing countries has meant a growing demand for meat, which, in turn, means more grain is needed; drought in Australia and China; high transportation costs; the growing production of biofuels.
Part of the problem could be resolved rather simply (at least in theory) - encourage and subsidize local, small farms plus take better care of the land. That's one view as espoused by the World Bank, the UN and a host of other organizations. But, a lot more can be done as described in this report from the Center for American Progress.
Failure to act will bring us back to the dark ages.
1 comment:
Since the stock market is a roller coaster, many people are investing in commodities which is driving the price of grains up. I heard one guy on the radio and he said only 1 percent of crops are used for biofuel.
We are always told that supply and demand drive the market, but that is only how they sell greed to us rubes.
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