There’s an interesting opinion article in the New York times regarding the world’s food crisis. Different than the financial crisis and harder to find a solution to, author Paul Krugman offers several reasons as to why this food shortage is happening.

One major reason he states is China: When you take a country as large and as densely populated as China, you are going to find that the rate of consumption is extremely high. When this country shifts its gears to become a superpower, more and more people are able to afford a Western lifestyle, such as eating meat. According the article, “it takes about 700 calories’ worth of animal feed to produce a 100-calorie piece of beef,” which means you are actually losing calories, a.k.a. grains, the one food supply that everybody can afford to eat. This is another reason why vegetarians don’t eat meat: it’s a waste of resources and contributes to the world’s food crisis.  Unfortunately, for many being wealthy and eating meat go hand in hand.

Other reasons for the food shortage include naturally occurring events such as droughts, and not-so naturally occurring events, such as bad policy-keeping.

Governments and private grain dealers used to hold large inventories in normal times, just in case a bad harvest created a sudden shortage. Over the years, however, these precautionary inventories were allowed to shrink, mainly because everyone came to believe that countries suffering crop failures could always import the food they needed.

The story of the ant and the grasshopper come to mind.

The combination of emerging economies such as China, droughts, and poor enforcement of policies make an ideal environment for a worldwide food crisis.  (Also, biofuels? Yeah, it turns out that they’re not such a good idea. When you try to make the world’s fuel supply by using the world’s food supply, it doesn’t quite work in the way you might think.)

In Japan, the effects are being felt as the prices of food increase, including the controversial increase of Kentucky Fried Chicken prices.  Countless TV programs examining this issue are aired weekly, and many companies have been resorting to putting out expired foods to keep their prices competitive, including patisserie giant Fujiya. 

The solution seems simple: enforce policies to keep grain supplies in check, and cut down on the world’s meat supply.  But unfortunately these sorts of things are easier said than done, and until people change the way wealth is interpreted (as in living excessive lifestyles and eating habits), it will be a harsh winter for us grasshoppers.

Source: Grains Gone Wild - New York Times

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Foxes | asia, environment | Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 | Trackback