Food Crisis

Everybody that has read here for a while knows that I am very concerned that the push the US is seeing into ethanol and biofuels and the subsidies the government is spending on these things are endangering our food security. We have to think about what we are doing by trying to grow our fuel. Is the possibility of not having enough food worth growing our fuel instead of fuel?<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/03/food.climatechange">Here is an interestng article</a> that discusses this.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Empty shelves in Caracas. Food riots in West Bengal and Mexico. Warnings of hunger in Jamaica, Nepal, the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa. Soaring prices for basic foods are beginning to lead to political instability, with governments being forced to step in to artificially control the cost of bread, maize, rice and dairy products.<br />n<br />nRecord world prices for most staple foods have led to 18% food price inflation in China, 13% in Indonesia and Pakistan, and 10% or more in Latin America, Russia and India, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Wheat has doubled in price, maize is nearly 50% higher than a year ago and rice is 20% more expensive, says the UN. Next week the FAO is expected to say that global food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and that prices will remain high for years. </blockquote><br />n<br />nI don't know if you have noticed but I have definitely seen that my food bill has risen quite a bit in the past few months. Last month I about dropped my teeth at the total price of my food bill and this month looks to be worse yet again. What's the cause of this rise?<br />n<br />n<blockquote>The price rises are a result of record oil prices, US farmers switching out of cereals to grow biofuel crops, extreme weather and growing demand from countries India and China, the UN said yesterday.<br />n<br />n"There is no one cause but a lot of things are coming together to lead to this. It's hard to separate out the factors," said Ali Gurkan, head of the FAO's Food Outlook programme, yesterday.</blockquote><br />n<br />nNow I have to agree with these reasons. I might really focus in on farmers growing more fuel instead of food in the price rise of food but the other factors they mention are true too. It is hard to figure how much each contributes, but growing fuel is not helping the situation. How might it affect things?<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Last year, he said, US farmers distorted the world market for cereals by growing 14m tonnes, or 20% of the whole maize crop, for ethanol for vehicles. This took millions of hectares of land out of food production and nearly doubled the price of maize. Mr Bush this year called for steep rises in ethanol production as part of plans to reduce petrol demand by 20% by 2017.<br />n<br />nMaize is a staple food in many countries which import from the US, including Japan, Egypt, and Mexico. US exports are 70% of the world total, and are used widely for animal feed. The shortages have disrupted livestock and poultry industries worldwide.<br />n<br />n"The use of food as a source of fuel may have serious implications for the demand for food if the expansion of biofuels continues," said a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund last week.<br />n<br />nThe outlook is widely expected to worsen as agro-industries prepare to switch to highly profitable biofuels. according to Grain, a Barcelona-based food resources group. Its research suggests that the Indian government is committed to planting 14m hectares (35m acres) of land with jatropha, an exotic bush from which biodiesel can be manufactured. Brazil intends to grow 120m hectares for biofuels, and Africa as much as 400m hectares in the next few years. Much of the growth, the countries say, would be on unproductive land, but many millions of people are expected to be forced off the land. </blockquote><br />n<br />nAll ready the corn used for ethanol in this country is affecting food supplies throughout the world and the expansion the Government wants will cause even more problems. I know the food shortages will affect poorer countries before it affects the US, but it still concerns me.<br />n<br />nI always like to think I grow food to feed people. I don't really care where the people live, I just think it is important to feed people. I know everybody out there thinks I'm crazy for worrying so about growing fuel instead of food and my concerns on food security but read the article and it really makes you wonder. How many people in the world are going to go hungry because you want to put a little ethanol in your SUV instead of gas? Do you think about this at all? I think it's something we need to consider instead of continuing to expand our ethanol industries. Is starving people worth putting ethanol in your SUV or is driving a more fuel efficient vehicle and not traveling as much a better idea so food is more affordable. Tough call ain't it.<br />n<br />n<strong>The most excellent and divine counsel, the best and most profitable advertisement of all others, but the least practiced, is to study and learn how to know ourselves. This is the foundation of wisdom and the highway to whatever is good. Pierre Charron </strong>