Speaking in Berlin on Wedensday, Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World food programme, said that rising food prices, a shortfall of stock and the effects of climate change pose a serious triple threat to the world’s poor.
She explained that the price the agency had to pay for its food procurement had shot up in the last 5 years, especially in the last 8 months. She said, “It affects us and our ability to reach people at the same time that the world’s most vulnerable, those making a- dollar- a-day or less, are being priced out of the food market.”
A very important part of her speech was when she said, “We need new strategies to deal with problems that… as of a year ago were not really predicted to be long-term trends, such as the rise in food prices. We now know that experts predict this to be a long-term trend.”
Yesterday’s front page headline in the Daily Express was “FRUIT AND VEG PRICES UP 23%”. The article commented on the increased demand for fruit and veg as people try to eat a better diet.
The article also went on to explain some of the reasons why other foods have also increased worldwide. Reporter Jo Macfarlane said, “…Poor wheat harvests and an increasing demand for food worldwide have produced record levels of food inflation, which, in turn, have pushed up the price of meat and dairy products as farmers try to recoup the cost of expensive feed. And with continued high oil prices and severe weather in regions where crops are grown, food costs are likely to rocket further…”
Nick Mathiason reported the following in the Observer on 11/11/07;
“Gordon Brown has launched a far reaching investigation in to the security of Britain’s food supply amid fears that the era of cheap prices is coming to an end.The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office’s strategy unit to look into the future of food production in a world of changing weather patterns, increasing take-up of biofuel crops and a shifting world population. The study will also examine the obesity time bomb, which is set to overtake smoking as the biggest cause of premature death.
“The food study is one of the first projects Brown has asked the strategy unit to look at. It will deliver its findings in March.
“Changing weather patterns attributed to global warming have in recent months seen severe droughts affect the bread basket of America. This could have a dramatic effect on crop yields, and the study will spell out the consequent options for Britain’s growing population.
“The trend for farmers to replace food crops with biofuel crops as governments demand alternatives to oil could push food prices above their long-term averages for the past decade. The growing affluence of China and India is also increasing world demand for food.
“The unit will focus on key diet and economic trends before asking industry and NGOs to respond before the end of the year. One insider suggested that a radical reconfiguration of where foodstuffs are grown would be considered, probably looking at Europe as a whole. There are also suggestions that genetically modified high-yield crops will have to be introduced to satisfy growing demand.
“Food industry insiders say the Prime Minister deserves praise for starting a debate on food security now. But Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics, said: ‘For most people it has been obvious that there is upward pressure on food prices. My initial reaction to this is that it’s better late than never, though I’m not sure what one country can do on its own.’”
