Food Prices Soaring Worldwide

[nacktman]

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The Associated Press is reporting “From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. The world’s poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk. Clashes over bread in Egypt killed at least two people last week, and similar food riots broke out in Burkina Faso and Cameroon this month.
But food protests now crop up even in Italy. And while the price of spaghetti has doubled in Haiti, the cost of miso is packing a hit in Japan.
“It’s not likely that prices will go back to as low as we’re used to,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, economist and secretary of the Intergovernmental Group for Grains for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization…”
Read the rest (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080324/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/fighting_for_food)of the article.

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The perfect storm of devaluing dollars, rising oil prices, and crappy weather are going to drive food prices up for the next decade or longer. Can we say population overshoot?

[nakedjohn]

We are in for a ride, and have no idea when it will stop.

[Bicycler]

The perfect storm of devaluing dollars, rising oil prices, and crappy weather are going to drive food prices up for the next decade or longer. Can we say population overshoot?

Don't forget that we are now starting burn our food for energy. Using corn for fuel is one of the most foolish ideas that has come around in a long time.

[MoonShadow]

Bicycler, may I ask why burning corn for fuel is foolish?

[Bicycler]

Bicycler, may I ask why burning corn for fuel is foolish?

It raises the price of corn and to a lesser extent alternative grains that are used for food. In addition, it raises the price of beef and any other meat product that uses corn for feed. I think the impact of this will mostly be felt by the third world countries that depends on grain as their major food source.

[Boreas]

It raises the price of corn and to a lesser extent alternative grains that are used for food. In addition, it raises the price of beef and any other meat product that uses corn for feed. I think the impact of this will mostly be felt by the third world countries that depends on grain as their major food source.

We are starting to see that in this part of Canada. The grain growers are being paid more for fuel grains, while the beef farmers next door are unable to feed their cattle. The beef farmers have already been very negatively affected by the US ban on certain cows entering the country. Even though the US is lifting this ban, the farmers are still in some trouble.

This is affecting us, and Canada is not a third world country.

[Qikdraw]

It raises the price of corn and to a lesser extent alternative grains that are used for food. In addition, it raises the price of beef and any other meat product that uses corn for feed. I think the impact of this will mostly be felt by the third world countries that depends on grain as their major food source.

You have a point, but it at least is a renewable fuel source, something we need. To stabalize this we probably need two prices, or two types of corn crops to seperate the two. We need a renewable energy sourse, but we also need cheap corn, there needs to be a balance somewhere.

Qikdraw

[usmc1]

I am not writing this with a sense of knowlege. But, I recollect that I heard something in passing on the news or radio the other day that one of the problems with corn, grass, etc. is that their energy yield for fuel is much, much less than for food.

What they're saying, I think, is that a bushel of corn would feed a family (in effect) for a week while the same bushel might produce a tea cup of fuel at much greater cost. None of that is precise, and certainly subject to clarification, but that is essentially how I recall it.

I said this before. But, it's worth repeating. I think we're grasping at straws looking for ways to continue massive energy consumption without having to devote more of our income than we already are. I believe that is a mistake, and at some point we're going to have to simple down, open windows, wear layers of clothes in the winter, drive less in more fuel efficient, standard transmission vehicles, use push mowers (or goats), etc, etc..

The days of cheap carbon fueled energy are over! Yes, there will be opportunities for various forms of alternative energy--but, none are technologically ready to meet today's massive needs. And, are decades away. The real solution is to reduce reliance.

People want to find a way to continue without inconvenience. 'Taint gonna happen.

[nimrod]

I have seen a report on bio-fuels that said it takes one gallon of gassoline made from oil to make one gallon of fuel made from corn. They factored in using helicopters for spraying pestisides, trucks spreading fertilizers and transportation, and the fuel it takes for processing, and found that it is one for one. In the same report it was said that if the U.S. dedicated all its farmlands for the manufacturing of bio-fuels it would only provide 12% of our total fuel demands. Does not seem like a viable fuel source to me. I would rather see it going towards food.

[Bicycler]

The days of cheap carbon fueled energy are over!

I don't think they are over by any measure but the end of the tunnel is detectable. It will be decades, IMHO, before we start to see a problem with petroleum based fuel. The reason I believe this is that I expect electicity to power cars in the future. You are starting to see it already with the hybrids that are popping up everywhere and this is causing a big push to improve battery life, reduce battery size and improve battery capacity. These things will happen over time. The hybrids will become less dependent on gasoline and more dependent on batteries in the coming decades. This techology will beat the pants off of growing corn to make fuel.

So what we need is a good cheap source of electricy. I nominate nuclear power. It is more or less renewable and it is safe. Just ask the French.

[usmc1]

I have seen a report on bio-fuels that said it takes one gallon of gassoline made from oil to make one gallon of fuel made from corn. They factored in using helicopters for spraying pestisides, trucks spreading fertilizers and transportation, and the fuel it takes for processing, and found that it is one for one. In the same report it was said that if the U.S. dedicated all its farmlands for the manufacturing of bio-fuels it would only provide 12% of our total fuel demands. Does not seem like a viable fuel source to me. I would rather see it going towards food.

Some diesel autos can be converted to run on waste cooking oils from restaurants. So, when you super size your fries, you're doing something for th environment.

[Skinview]

Some diesel autos can be converted to run on waste cooking oils from restaurants. So, when you super size your fries, you're doing something for th environment.By getting fat and dying young, lol.

[usuallylurk]

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The Associated Press is reporting “From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. The world’s poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk.
... (some stuff snipped)

I can recall -- ironically, at one of the fine Naturist New Hampshire swim/dinner events, chatting with a gentleman and his wife about this very topic, around six-seven years ago.

Back in 2001, the stock market dropped; I was joking that I was waiting for the market to go to 13,000 again, I'd liquidate all and retire. The discussion turned to economics. He started, "I have to to tell you, that this country (USA) is going to go through a period, and you are going to see a substantial reduction in the standard of living here, and it's going to be noticeable. Most of us will experience it, and it's going to happen gradually, around seven to fifteen years from now."

Napoleon, we are here!

He explained that the export of our industrial base is going to hurt -- we will see minimal benefit from that -- because when those people in China (and now India, and other places) are eventually going to demand their piece of the pie for themselves. The woman who's making shoes in Shanghai for the American market is going to want a pair of them for herself and also some for her kids. The guy who's making high-def TV sets in Beijing is going to want one in his home.

These people are going to get into a pattern of Western-style consumption and that will put a major strain on the world's resources and raw material, including food and oil.

I replied, that you can probably draw parallels to American history. You don't need to be Howard Zinn to note that the United States broke its ties formally with the British Empire with the American Revolution, and had hostile relations resulting in war in 1812 -- and had a rocky, aloof relationship with them until (around) 1915. But, through circumstances, the United States was an economic colony to Britain well through the industrial revolution, and the American labor movement took advantage of these circumstances, and formed a middle class culture between 1891 and 1930. A production => consumption => production cycle.

This is happening in China today. And because of a "global economy"= Chinese manufacturing, funded by Western capitalism and "free trade", is generating a redistribution of the world's wealth.

And a labor movement to fuel a middle class? No need for it in China, their systems have socialism-Communism built into them already, thanks to a guy named Mao.

So, we in the western, industrialized nations are in for some rocky times. But out of "rocky times", we have challenges to overcome. Can we, in this country, do what we did in the 1930s -- irrigate the west, electrify the south -- and get the same development going on in Africa and South America?

[usmc1]

So U. L. did you ever cash out? Or are you "buying low" right now? Also, I like your recovery notion, I'd add to it by expanding broadband capability to every home in North America.

[usmc1]

This article pretty much echoes where my head is on this issue. We recently moved and bought a place with a free acre for subsistence gardening.

Year one, we're just planting the usual.

But, by next year we're include some fruit trees, some berries, along with year-round vegetable gardening and canning and freezing, a few chickens for eggs and maybe three bee-hives (depending on how the current bee die off turns out).

We're three miles from a huge lake that is plentiful with many different kinds of fish, and while we can't get completely "off the grid", it is our expectation that by year three, we will be largely self-sufficient for food and water.

We're currently researching wind and home ethanol stills for some alternative energy.

Unless we move, we'll never be completely off the grid--not voluntarily anyway...

We feel we have to adapt, and that we need to take responsibility for protecting ourselves and ensuring our food and water supply, and become as self-sufficient as we can under our current circumstances.

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Peak Food and Peak Water
By Shepherd Bliss
Created May 29 2008 - 11:01am

Peak Oil theorists such as Richard Heinberg, James Howard Kunstler, Matthew Simmons, and others turn out to be correct. Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet.

Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

In April food prices in the United States saw their biggest jump in 18 years, according to the Labor Department. Prices are up an average of 41% from last year for commodities such as corn and cotton. Fertilizer prices are up a dramatic 65% from a year ago.

Saving Water: From Field to Fork (http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0524_03_1.jpg) [1]" titles a new study reported in the article "Food Security Requires New Approach to Water" in a May 24 Inter Press Service (IPS) article. A growing scarcity of water threatens food supplies. Food production and agriculture are the largest uses of fresh water, consuming about 70% of water globally, according to the study by the Stockholm International Water Institute. In his book "Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines," Heinberg says that over 80% of fresh water goes toward agriculture in the United States.

Scare supplies of water, according to the IPS article, "will be a key constraint to food production." If there is no change in current practices in food production and consumption, according to a contributor to the Stockholm report, "it is likely that twice as much water as that used today would be required by 2015 to produce the world's required food." But that amount of water would not be available, indicating the possibility of widespread food fights and even famine.

"Peak Food" is a term that California farmer and author John Jeavons uses in workshops. Jeavons "says peak food is actually related to four other intertwined crises: peak farmable land, peak water, peak oil, and global warming," according to the article "Monocrops Bring Food Crisis" by Alex Roslin in the Canadian publication www.straight.com (http://www.straight.com/) [2].

A solution--according to Jeavons in his classic book "How to Grow More Vegetables"--is to revive small-scale farming, such as used to prevail in the United States. In addition to Jeavon's biointensive farming, others advocate the system referred to as permaculture. Heinberg calls for the de-industrialization of agriculture. He says that a key will be getting more farmers and re-ruralization and re-localization.

"Food Banks Face Rising Costs (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24832584/from/ET/) [3]," headlines a May 26 MSNBC article. "While demand is up, supplies and donations are down," the article reveals. "The way it's going, we're going to have a food disaster pretty soon," the MSNBC article quotes Phyllis Legg of the Merced Food Bank in the foreclosure-ravaged Merced County in California.

"If gas keeps going up, its going to be catastrophic in every possible way," the article quotes Ross Fraser, a spokesperson for America's Second Harvest--The Nation's Food Bank Network. "The price of gasoline is going to drive the price of everything else," Fraser asserts.

A food bank in Albuquerque, N.M., runs out of food and turns people away. Public school students in Baton Rouge, La. bring home some of their lunches to have something to eat for dinner. A food bank in Lorain, Ohio, meets only 25 to 30% of the need for food. In Stockton, Ca., which has the highest foreclosure rate in the country, customers line up several hours before the food bank's 10 a.m. opening.

"When people go to the gas pump and watch that dial roll over, there goes breakfast, lunch and dinner. People are living on the edge," Don Lindsay is quoted in a May 26 article in the New York Times-owned daily Press Democrat of Sonoma County, where this reporter lives in Northern California. Lindsay is operations director of the Redwood Empire Food Bank. It feeds 50,000 people in our semi-rural county of around 500,000. Such pantries are an essential aspect of the safety net that is diminishing.
"Present and future generations may become acquainted with that old, formerly familiar but unwelcome houseguest--famine," writes Heinberg.
The electrical grid in Baghdad is not expected to be restored for many years and is already down in other parts of the world, making electricity and it many benefits unavailable. An increasing number of people in parts of Hawai'i, California's North Coast, and elsewhere are planning for the future by making homes that are off the electrical grid. Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.

The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to trade--will be essential to survival.
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About author Shepherd Bliss (sb3@pon.net) [4] is a retired college teacher and former officer in the U.S. Army who now farms in Northern California. He has contributed to 19 books, including three post-9/11 books, most recently to Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0977333833/sr%3D1-1/qid%3D1156447375/ref%3Dpd_bbs_1/104-8208774-0223107?ie=UTF8&s=books%2Fthesmirkingchimp%2F) [5].

[nudenwv]

Fasten Your Seat Belts !!