Food for Thought - Political Forum

Wheeldog · 11-18-2007, 06:08 PM

After the Oil Crisis, a Food Crisis? - TIME

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Is the world headed for a food crisis? ......

What's the cause for these shortages and price hikes? Expensive oil, for the most part.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported last week that, at nearly $100 a barrel, the price of oil has sent the cost of food imports skyrocketing this year. Add in escalating crop prices, the FAO warned, and a direct consequence could soon be an increase in global hunger — and, as a consequence, increased social unrest. ......

What's more, worldwide food reserves are at their lowest in 35 years, so prices are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future. "Past shocks have quickly dissipated, but that's not likely to be the case this time," says Ghurkan. "Supply and demand have become unbalanced, and... can't be fixed quickly."

The world's food import bill will rise in 2007 to $745 billion, up 21% from last year, the FAO estimated in its biannual Food Outlook. .... The FAO says the price increases are a result of record oil prices, farmers switching out of cereals to grow biofuel crops, extreme weather and growing demand from countries like India and China. .... "The situation could deteriorate further in the coming months," ......
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With one-quarter of the U.S. corn harvest in 2007 diverted towards biofuel production, the attendant rise in cereal prices has already had an impact on the cost and availability of food. Critics worry that the gold rush towards biofuels is taking away food from the hungry. ........

This article in Time Magazine pinpoints one of the very serious spinoffs of an increasingly tight oil market. It doesn't get more basic than food. While we complain about the cost of filling the tank of our cars in poorer countries they are far more concerned about filling the stomachs of their children. There is a direct connection between oil production and food production. Chances are that connection will become increasingly evident even in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.