tagged w/ Food Shortage
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It is not just the United States that is headed for an economic collapse. The truth is that the entire world is heading for a massive economic meltdown and the people of earth need to be warned about the coming economic disaster that is going to sweep the globe. The current world financial system is based on debt, and there are alarming signs that the gigantic global debt bubble is getting ready to burst. In addition, global prices for the key resources that the major economies of the planet depend on are rising very rapidly. Despite all of our advanced technology, the truth is that human civilization simply cannot function without oil and food. But now the price of oil and the price of food are both increasing dramatically. So how is the current global economy supposed to keep functioning properly if it soon costs much more to ship products between continents? How are the billions of people that are just barely surviving today supposed to feed themselves if the price of food goes up another 30 or 40 percent? For decades, most of the major economies around the globe have been able to take for granted that massive amounts of cheap oil and massive amounts of cheap food will always be there. So what happens when that paradigm changes?
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/people-of-earth-prepare-for-economic-disasterIt is not just the United States that is headed for an economic collapse. The truth... more
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Nobelist Krugman: "It sure looks like climate change is a major culprit" in the extreme weather that has run up food prices
February 7, 2011
The expert consensus on the key role that high food prices have played in MidEast protests continues to grow (see my multi-part series on food insecurity). Indeed, governments in the region themselves are so concerned about the threat of food insecurity to their stability, they are starting to stockpile grain, which, ironically, will further drive up prices, as The Economist explains in their February 3rd edition.
Nobel Prize economist Paul Krugman also weighs in with a major NYT column, “Droughts, Floods and Food” (excerpted below), which also makes the connection I have been focusing on between extreme weather (driven in part by climate change) and food prices.
UPDATE: And don’t miss the UK Guardian’s new piece today, “Failure to act on crop shortages fuelling political instability, experts warn.”
First though, the Wall Street Journal provided us some more insight into the role extreme weather is playing in the food-price run-up in their article last week, “When Will Russia Resume Grain Exports Again?”
Russia stopped grain exports last summer after the worst drought to hit the country in over a century ravaged the country’s harvest and cut production by nearly 40%. The ban sent shockwaves through international markets and propelled wheat prices to highs not seen since the 2007-08 food crisis.
That impact is, I think, well understood — see Russian President Medvedev: “What is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past.” But now it’s clear that the unprecedented heat wave and drought didn’t just devastate the country’s harvest at the time — it has hurt their current harvest:
Acreage for 2011 winter grains fell nearly 3 million hectares short of forecasts after the drought made the ground too hard to plant. In the Volga and South Ural regions, which account for around 20% of the total area seeded, the problems were particularly acute and plantings may need to be replaced in spring.
“Farmers are facing a huge problem to get their grain in the ground and have a decent crop for 2011,” said Peter Biermann, general manager of grain export operations at Swiss grain trader ASTON FFI.
The extraordinary devastation wrought by Russia’s drought should be especially worrisome to anyone concern about the future impacts of unrestricted greenhouse gas emissions. Tamino calculated (at length) that global warming made the Moscow heat wave roughly eight times more likely: “Without global warming, this once-in-a-century-or-two event would have been closer to a once-in-a-millenium event.”Nobelist Krugman: "It sure looks like climate change is a major culprit" in... more
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(my thoughts)Food prices rise as demand outstrips supply. Part of this is a product of India and China's growth. As countries grow they tend to a adopt more meat into their diets, which demands more land to grow as food is instead fed to animals (it takes approximately ten times as land to produce calories from cattle than eating the food directly though some meat is more efficient--chickens buy especially insects, fish)... Some of the demand is coming from feeding our cars food, some of the demand simply from growing populations, and some of the excess demand is being affected by changes in the climate, changing seasons around the equators (less consistent and more violent rain). The question I think for ourselves is are we going to continue to eat in ways that requires more land, are we going to live in ways that destabilize the climate, and as we move towards the planetary constraints are we going to hold on to what we have or find ways of reaching out to those in need. Because of our northern location, because the first nation's people in general didn't overconsume it's resources, and because of a small population by our historical violence against the first nations people, Canada (I'm from Canada) is comparatively resource rich and may even benefit in the early stages of a changing climate. Are we going to pretend we have earned this grace or find ways of living generously.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/2011/02/20112442413591195.html
World food prices have hit their highest level on record in January, the United Nations has said.
It said on Thursday that its Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index rose for the seventh month in a row to reach 231, topping the peak of 224.1 last seen in June 2008.
It is the highest level the index has reached since records began in 1990.
"The new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating. These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come," said Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist for FAO, which is based in Rome.
Rising food prices have been cited among the driving forces behind the recent popular revolts in north Africa, including the uprising in Egypt and the toppling of Tunisia's long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
In response, some countries are increasing food imports and have built stockpiles to meet their domestic needs.
Among them is Algeria, wary after food riots in early January. It has made huge wheat purchases to avoid shortages, and on Thursday it announced plans to lift a 19-year-old state of emergency in
a bid to to avert spreading protests.
Capital Economics, a consultancy in London warned that "Even if the crisis in Egypt eases soon, the actions taken by governments elsewhere to prevent similar uprisings in their own countries will add to the upward pressure on global agricultural commodity prices."
In Central America, Honduras has frozen prices on many basic foodstuffs despite complaints from farmers.
El Salvador is increasing anti-poverty programs by 30 per cent, and Guatemala is considering slashing import tariffs on wheat and is handing out food and cash vouchers to landless peasants.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, last week bought 820,000 tonnes of rice, lifting rice prices, while suspending import duties on rice, soybeans and wheat.
Robert Zoellick, World Bank President urged world leaders to "wake up" to the dangers of rising food inflation.
"We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices," he said.
During the last food price crisis, the World Bank estimated that some 870 million people in developing countries were hungry or malnourished. The FAO estimates that number has increased to 925 million.
The FAO data showed that prices for dairy products rose by 6.2 per cent from December, oils and fats gained 5.6 per cent, while cereals went up by 3.0 per cent because of lower global supply of wheat and maize.
Alarming situation
The problem is set to worsen after a massive snowstorm in the United States and floods in Australia. And economists warned that chaos in Egypt could push prices up further and foment more unrest in the region.
Sugar prices also have surged to three-decade highs on fears of the damage that Cyclone Yasi would bring to the Australian cane crop.
Prices for Malaysian palm oil, a cooking staple in the developing world, hit 3-year highs on flooding.
Big companies have had to adjust to higher raw material costs.
Kellogg Co, the world's largest breakfast cereal company, said on Thursday that it has boosted prices on many of its products to offset rising costs for ingredients such as grains and sugar.
"Today's announcement by the Food and Agriculture Organization should ring alarm bells in capitals around the world," said Gawain Kripke, a policy and research director for Oxfam America, an international development group.
"Governments must avoid repeating the mistakes of the past when countries reacted to spiraling prices by banning exports and hoarding food. This will only make the situation worse and it is the world's poorest people who will pay the price," he said.
Janis Huebner, economist at Germany's DekaBank said inflation partly fuelled by increasing food prices could in turn trigger interest rate rises in several countries this year.
"This could mean a slowing down of growth in the countries which raise their interest rates," he said.
The report showed that Somalia and Uganda have been particularly hard hit in Africa and that the ongoing unrest in Ivory Coast has helped push up prices in West Africa as a whole because of its status as a key transport hub.
But the most dramatic rises were seen in Asia, with a surge in prices across the board in India due to "unseasonal rains" during the harvest season "which resulted in severe damage to the summer crop and supply shortages," FAO said.
Josette Sheeran, the UN World Food Programme's executive director said that the world is now in an era where it has to be very serious about food supply.
"If people don't have enough to eat they only have three options: they can revolt, they can migrate or they can die. We need a better action plan," she said.(my thoughts)Food prices rise as demand outstrips supply. Part of this is a product of... more
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Suzanne Somers – Sexy Forever Diet The latest is Sexy Forever by Suzanne Somers.As one of America’s most informed and passionate health care advocates, Suzanne Somers has a history of sharing her secrets to keeping the weight off and looking beautiful.Suzanne Somers – Sexy Forever Diet The latest is Sexy Forever by Suzanne... more
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Recently Complete News Updates Today The latest is Sexy Forever by Suzanne Somers. I do not want to state my age, but I do recall the thigh master. As one of America’s most informed and passionate health care advocates, Suzanne Somers has a history of sharing her secrets to keeping the weight off and looking beautiful.Recently Complete News Updates Today The latest is Sexy Forever by Suzanne Somers. I... more
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A new study suggests that Africa can feed itself in a decade if its leaders make agriculture their top priority. With an abundance of arable land and farm labor, Africa has a fertile base for huge and sustainable farms that can feed its own population. Better infrastructure, with a special emphasis on roads between rural towns, is also essential to create a profitable and sustainable agriculture industry.
While the research can prove its theory with hard evidence, the publication's main argument is nothing new. The reader can see the new research not only as an argument to force African leaders to invest in agriculture, but also as an incentive for entrepreneurs and investors to keep a close eye on Africa and take up the challenge to build the farms themselves. There is a clear trend that money can be made in Africa through agriculture, whether the business exports or sells locally.
I currently own a 2 acre farm with 5,000 pineapple and even at low estimates, I still have a rate of return 6 times higher than my initial investment after the first 5 years. Take up the challenge for yourself, and see the beauty in feeding your brothers and sisters.A new study suggests that Africa can feed itself in a decade if its leaders make... more
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Recently, former President Clinton acknowledged that food policies he instituted in Haiti during his terms in office were a colossal failure. Haiti was encouraged to end rice production and outsource their major food staple so they could instead concentrate on building their market economy for the future. But as the January 12th earthquake has shown, this policy has left them completely dependent on foreign aid to sustain them during this crisis. Millions are now faced with severe food shortages. Reversing this policy and correcting this situation will take time as Haitians once again learn to become stewards of their own food system. Without this, they remain at the mercy of others.
But as we watch this human-created catastrophe play out in Haiti, did it ever occur to you that a similar policy has been operating in the US for the last 60 years? Today, just 2% of the population provides the food for 98% of the US. To do this, we have transitioned from thousands of small farms spread throughout the country to a few mega-industrial food producers. We too are now dependent. Any major crisis occur that would disrupt food distribution for several weeks and we will look much like Haiti. Former Homeland Security Director, Tom Ridge, was once quoted as saying he was surprised that terrorists had not attacked our food system—it was by far the easiest system to disrupt because it was so centralized. Once done, it would create havoc.
What were we thinking? All of these actions stem from the conviction of a “Single Bottom Line” economy. That is, making money and profits are the only measure of success. In the last 60 years, the market economy’s importance has come to over-ride everything else. We’ve let ourselves believe that doing everything and anything to foster unlimited growth and production will result in massive profits and that would be all we would need for economic success. As a result, small farms were gobbled up into big conglomerates in order to make ever-more profits. But as we’re beginning to see, this was at the expense of communities, the environment and ultimately, self-sufficiency across this country.
Clinton was blinded by this Single Bottom Line economy zeal when he, with utter conviction, set into motion the policies that have now left Haiti in crisis. This was occurring as well throughout the US. Businessmen, economists, and government policies are all part of this conviction. But as Clinton has now shown that policy has failed tragically in the acute crisis playing out in Haiti. And in our country, it is playing out through a slow and chronic slide into mediocrity. Today, social problems like obesity, Type II Diabetes, addictions, poverty, and environmental problems of clean air and water are the legacies of the Single Bottom Line economy.
Out of tragedy can come blessings: The good news is that there’s another option besides the Single Bottom Line/profits are everything economy. We can choose the Triple Bottom Line economy. This is an economy that measures and monetizes success through three interwoven criteria: social — doing what’s good for people, environmental — doing what’s good for the environment, and business — making choices/making profits in alignment with what works best for all three parts. The result? We end up creating an economy that works for people, the planet and business.
(Read the rest on the original post.)Recently, former President Clinton acknowledged that food policies he instituted in... more
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Do you take your food for granted? Click the link and check out the article to gain a deeper perspective.Do you take your food for granted? Click the link and check out the article to gain a... more
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Kellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two bakeries. The shortfall could last through mid-2010.
Better hoard your Eggos!
Grocery stores will be experiencing a shortage of the waffles until mid-2010 due to problems at two bakeries, a Kellogg's spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg, which makes Eggo products, to shut down production temporarily, said company spokesman Kris Charles. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs.
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/108191/leggo-your-eggo-theres-a-waffle-shortageKellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two... more
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With another shortage on the horizon, the world seems ill prepared. ________________________________________________________________
Article from The Star-Toronto:
Every six seconds a child on this planet dies of hunger.
We've had industrial revolutions in the west and more recently in China and South Asia; budding revolutions in "superjumbo" aircraft and plug-in electric cars; and Seinfeld episodes that can be downloaded onto cellphones worldwide.
Yet we remain trapped in some previous century in that most basic of necessities; keeping the world population fed. Remarkably, the facts today point to yet another global food shortage just a few years after the food crisis of 2007-08, which ended only when the Great Recession curbed a debilitating upward spiral in prices of basic staples like rice, corn and wheat worldwide. As the world economy recovers, the prospect of another global food crisis looms large.
The determining factors in famine are mostly man-made. They include civil war and political instability in many, if not most undernourished regions. Protectionism in affluent nations that removes the incentive for developing-world farmers to enhance crop yields in the hope of earning export revenue. A sharp decline in affluent-world donations of agricultural assistance to underfed countries. A growing scourge of crop failure related to global warming. And a ferocious debate between advocates of natural farming methods and those arguing for a new agricultural revolution based on genetically modified (GM) crops.
"We have the economic and technical means to make hunger disappear," said Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization last month, in releasing a report showing that the number of people suffering from hunger crossed the one-billion threshold for the first time, in 2008 – a 10 per cent increase in global hunger in just one year.
In a report released last week, UNICEF found that nearly 200 million children in poor nations have stunted growth resulting from malnutrition.
*Complete story at link below
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/725725--hungry-for-answers-to-the-global-food-shortageWith another shortage on the horizon, the world seems ill prepared.... more
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“It is really hard for me to comprehend that in the next 50 years, we’ll have to produce as much food as we have ever produced in human history,” Clark said. “That means in the working life of my children as much grain as has ever been harvested since the Egyptian time.”
What a scary and tragically sad future but I am optimistic and want to believe we can change that.
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
By Oscar Wilde
Join Organic:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/“It is really hard for me to comprehend that in the next 50 years, we’ll... more
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World food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050, to nourish a human population then likely to be 9.1 billion, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation forecast Wednesday.
"FAO is cautiously optimistic about the world's potential to feed itself by 2050," said FAO Assistant Director-General Hafez Ghanem. However, he stressed that feeding everyone in the world by then "will not be automatic and several significant challenges have to be met."
The agency is preparing for a high-level expert forum in Rome on October 12-13 on "How to Feed the World in 2050" and plans to gather 300 specialists from academic, non-governmental and private sector institutions.
This forum will pave the way for a World Summit on Food Security in Rome on November 16-18.
The world population is expected to grow from 6.8 billion today to 9.1 billion in 2050, according to the latest UN forecast.
"Nearly all of the population growth will occur in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa's population is expected to grow the fastest (up 108 percent, 910 million people), and East and South East Asia's the slowest (up 11 percent, 228 million).
"Around 70 percent of the world population will live in cities or urban areas by 2050, up from 49 percent today," the document said.
The demand for food is expected to grow as a result of rising incomes as well as population growth, the discussion paper added. Cereal production will have to increase by almost a billion tonnes from 2.1 billion today and meat production will have to grow by more than 200 million tonnes to reach a total of 470 million tonnes in 2050.
The FAO estimated that the "production of biofuels could also increase the demand for agricultural commodities, depending on energy prices and government policies."
More land will be needed for crops "despite the fact that 90 percent of the growth in crop production is projected to come from higher yields and increased cropping intensity."
The FAO estimated that "arable land will have to expand by around 120 million hectares in developing countries," mainly in Africa and Latin America, while "arable land in use in developed countries is expected to decline by some 50 million hectares, although this could be changed by the demand for biofuels."World food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050, to nourish a human... more
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Effects of climate change including the melting of Himalayan glaciers threaten water and food security for more than 1.6 billion people living in South Asia, according to a study released Wednesday.
India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal will be most vulnerable to falling crop yields caused by glacier retreat, floods, droughts and erratic rainfall, said the study financed by the Asian Development Bank.
"South Asia's vulnerability to climate change has extremely serious implications for agriculture and therefore food security," Kunio Senga, the ADB's director general for South Asia, told a news conference in the Nepalese capital, Katmandu.
The Manila, Philippines-based bank, which finances poverty reduction programs, reported the findings Wednesday. The full report, produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute, is due for release later this month in Bangkok, Thailand on the sidelines of a U.N. climate change meeting.
The study warned if current trends persist until 2050, the yields of irrigated crops in South Asia will decrease significantly.
In the case of Nepal, Environment Ministry Secretary Udaya Raj Sharma said the rate of glacial melting in the impoverished Himalayan nation's mountains was higher than initially predicted, and the trend threatened rice and wheat crops.
A report released last week by British aid agency Oxfam warned millions Nepalese face severe food shortages because of climate change. It said changing weather patterns — extreme temperatures, drier winters and delays in summer monsoons — have dramatically affected crop production already, leaving farmers unable to properly feed themselves and pushing them into debt. An estimated 3.4 million people in Nepal need food aid, it said.
Oxfam predicted river levels will decline because of reduced rainfall and glacial retreat, making it harder to irrigate crops and provide water for livestock.Effects of climate change including the melting of Himalayan glaciers threaten water... more
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We desperately need a new way of thinking, a new mind-set. The thinking that got us into this bind will not get us out. When Elizabeth Kolbert, a writer for the New Yorker, asked energy guru Amory Lovins about thinking outside the box, Lovins responded: "There is no box."
There is no box. That is the mind-set we need if civilization is to survive.
It's not news that Lester Brown is warning about our unsustainable approach to feeding the planet. But it is news that Scientific American has run a major article by him on how "The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse."We desperately need a new way of thinking, a new mind-set. The thinking that got us... more
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Ok, guys I write for you this quick note, to those who take seriously my messages. I write this post because I saw the beast standing up before the cameras and saying “The safety of people around the world is at stake," blaming Afghanistan and Pakistan.Ok, guys I write for you this quick note, to those who take seriously my messages. I... more
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Haitian mothers are forced to choose which children will live or die due to food shortage. They are so desperate for food that many mothers wait to name their newborn because they know infants will die of malnutrition. Food crises erupted across the globe this year in countries such as Egypt and India also United States also warned that they were running out of food because of unprecedented demand. The news from the World Food Program says: “A child dies of hunger every six seconds, and huger now kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined”. As World Hunger Relief Week is marked, more people are asking: Why are so many people starving and what, if anything, can be done to eradicate hunger?Haitian mothers are forced to choose which children will live or die due to food... more
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