Food and fuel crisis needs consideration

There have been riots recently in places like Haiti, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cameroon over increasing food costs. Clashes over bread have killed a couple of people in Egypt.

In Haiti, the Intergovernmental Group for Grains with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says consumers simply have no choice but to eat less. Late last year 37 countries faced food crises and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls.

Many blame the rising price of corn (up 31 per cent from 2005) on the burgeoning biofuel industry, pointing out that to fill up an SUV with a tank of ethanol uses as much corn as can feed a person for a year. That seems a shocking statistic to me.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick called for more contributions to the $500 million World Food Program. "We have to put our money," he said, “where our mouth is."

In London, the head of the UN World Food Program has said urgent action is necessary to stimulate food production and help the poor cope with soaring food prices. Josette Sheeran told the BBC that an additional 100 million people, who did not need assistance six months ago, cannot now afford to purchase food.

The World Food Program is looking at a $500-million shortfall in funding this year. Appeals have gone out to donor countries to step up contributions. I know the Valley Food Grains organization is wondering how it can pull off more fundraising this coming year.

No anguish – yet

Sheeran's warning came ahead of a meeting to discuss the rise in prices and an EU policy encouraging biofuels. Biofuels are intended to tackle climate change, but they often take farmland out of food crops. Joan Baxter, a Nova Scotia writer who lived in Africa for 25 years, says it’s not fair that the world's hungry people have to compete for crops with billions of motorists.

In this country, we have not endured the kind of drought Australia suffered or other freakish weather. We are not feeling anguish over food costs unless we already patronize a food bank, but in the United States the cost of a carton of eggs has gone up almost 50 per cent in the last 12 months. Food prices rose four per cent in the U.S. last year, the highest jump since 1990, and are expected to climb as much again this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They call it the worst case of food inflation in 20 years.

Let's face it; on this continent, we have long taken cheap food costs for granted. In times gone by, support programs and farm subsidies allowed major grain exporting countries to save large surpluses. These could be tapped when food shortages occurred.

New trade policies, however, have set up an agriculture system that is geared to market demands. With energy prices jumping all the time, we can't pull food resources around the globe as easily. But well-padded Canadians have no problem buying lamb from New Zealand and grapes from Chile.

In this country we talk about the 100-mile diet, while our neighbours to the south apply the term 'locavore' to those eating locally sourced food. Food miles have become a vital issue for many: witness the popularity of farm markets in Wolfville, Annapolis Royal and the perennial favourite in Halifax.

But I think we have yet to feel the pinch the way other nations have and when it comes, we will compare our challenges with the privations of the last world war.

If you read the papers or watch the television you know that both food and fuel pressures are mounting globally and Canadians have been insulated.

Anyone who wants to be better educated should plan to attend the free May 1 panel discussion at the Kentville fire hall. The KALE group has lined up a handful of experts on fuel, food and our changing weather. Turn out for 7 p.m.