the latest (19th May) issue of Newsweek (available fulltext thru the library) has a special report devoted to the growing crisis in the world food markets. Increasingly this topic is starting to make it's way on to the front of the news media and cannot be ignored as mere scaremongering. Contributors include Gordon Brown and the author Michael Pollan. In the past few months there have been food related riots in 22 countries, food prices are rising rapidly, the days of cheap food are over, many food markets are distorted by both the rich and poor, the industry is corrupted by subsidies and scams, huge amounts of waste.... governments will fall.
The food industry has so far shieded consumers in the west from the worst of it but already the average food bill has increased by 1/3 in the past year. Grain prices have doubled but insanely most of the worlds grain is fed to animals - 10lbs of grain produce 1lb of meal. And there's more madness: in the USA, by encouraging farmers to plant corn, to produce ethanol, to run cars, now means the 4 wheel SUVs on the road are competing with the poorest in our society to feed themselves. Thats not just wrong it's obscene.
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