What happened
Egyptian police foiled plans for a general strike after protesters angry about rising food prices set fire to buildings and looted shops in the industrial Nile Delta town of Mahalla el-Kobra over the weekend. (AP in the International Herald Tribune) At least four people were killed in similar clashes with police in Les Cayes, a city on Haiti’s Caribbean coast. (BBC News)
What the commentators said
When people all over the world start rioting because they can’t afford to put food on the table, said The Christian Science Monitor in an editorial, it’s time to “rethink global security.” The cost of food staples in Haiti have gone up 50 percent in the last year, and, “from Egypt to Vietnam, price rises of 40 percent or more for rice, wheat, and corn are stirring unrest and forcing governments to take drastic steps, such as blocking grain exports and arresting farmers who hoard surpluses.” With spreading deserts and rising demand for grain-fed meat driving the price hikes, this problem won’t go away on its own, so world leaders will have to actually do something about it.
But what? said Paul Krugman in The New York Times (free registration). The first thing is getting aid to “people in distress.” The second is halting the push for biofuels—the “subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming,” but this was clearly a big mistake. “You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.”
“Ethanol production has been linked to a rise in the price of everything from tortillas to gummy bears,” said Michigan State chemical engineering professor Bruce Dale in the Trenton (N.J.) Times, but “this argument is very nearly ridiculous.” The truth is that “rising wealth and grain demand in China and India, drought in Australia, increased ethanol demand, and especially rising energy prices all play a role” in driving up grain prices all over the world.
There will certainly be a “backlash” against using crop land for fuel production if “world food shortages worsen,” said the Singapore Straits Times in an editorial (subscription required). If Europe and the U.S. decide not to reverse converting cropland for biofuel production, perhaps the solution is figuring out ways to get more food per acre. Using genetic manipulation to produce “high-yield strains of rice and wheat” is “a scientific hot potato,” but if anybody has “a better idea to reverse recurrent trends of food scarcity” now might be a good time to share it with the rest of us.
12 comments:
I think everyone should just stop using automobiles and start riding bikes so that we can save the world... if it was only that easy. The U.S. and other western countries need to stop destroying our lands for fuel and trying to create new ways to use less fuel. Just so that they know they are using MORE of our precious resources to try to make less it doesn't make sense. And then the farmers wouldn't have to hoard all the food away from everybody else just so that they can survive. Also what about all of the obese people in America can't we share some of the wealth to the rest of the world who are not obese. I know that there are food shortages but there has to be some way to stop all of this from happening. This article made me so guilty for having a decent meal while other people are rioting becasue they can't afford to put food on their table.
Sarah Lambert
Human Geography Ap 4
9th grade
Too many things are happenning in the other side ofthe world... I guess 2008 is a hard year for everyone... Hope the food price will go down soon...
By: Liulinbo Yang (6)
Can you say counterproductive?
It seems like a good idea to grow corn to conserve energy and fuel, but if we are only creating another "hole" somewhere, what use does it do? I don't know who, when, where and how some one is going to devise a plan to counter our contribution to global warming, but for the time being, lets feed the people.
Gabe, 2nd
I think that using corn to try and produce ethanol is a bad idea, because if we are growing more and more corn it leaves less room for us to grow other crops like wheat. Dedicating farmland to only corn will make prices of food rise and just put the economy into further recession.
It seems obvious that ethanol is a bad idea and most people arent in favor of it, so why do they continue to produce it? Its not cost effective because it raises the prices of everything else. Whats the point in ethanol production then?
Marisa Ybarra
2nd
Well it had to happen sometime, all this trying to find alternative fuel stuff had to come and bite us in the but somethimes. Though many people here probably think why should i care about people on the other side of the world starving because they can't afford food, maybe they should try to get a better job. Well that's probably not possible for them. May be we should designate certain regions where food is grown for food and other areas where it can be grown for other needs. Or we could do something really crazy as a country and as a whole care for people other then ourselves!!! I know its a crazy idea but who knows what would happen if we actually did it.
Carleen DeArmon
3rd Period
♥
I agree with the above. Using corn to produce fuel is assinine. Not only does it not have the effect we want it to of less fuel emission and in effect be better for our health.
Mark Z. Jacobsen, an atmospheric scientist from Stanford University, in the journal, "Environmental Science and Technology," wrote, "Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution, but our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage."
His group of researchers observed that, while the use of E85(a blend of 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline) reduced the atmospheric levels of benzene and butadiene, they increased the levels of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.
"The study also projected a 4 percent increase in ozone-related deaths nationwide (9 percent for Los Angeles) and increases in asthma-related emergency room visits and respiratory-related hospitalizations."
So my question is, why exactly are we wasting our farming resources in an over-production of corn that will not do any good in the long run? If the world was not spending so much money and so many resources on this project, they could probably afford to feed everyone. It is things like this that make me wonder: What do the scientists that report to the politicians actually do? Are they even scientists? If they were someone would think they would have caught this before it got out of control.
My source: www.junkscience.com
Tis an interesting site. You should visit it some time.
Gillian Welch
3rd
It's extemely ridiculous.
Milk is too expensive, bread is too expensive, soon everything with corn will be too expensive because there are going to be corn shortages...it's too much.
We need to start thinking about alternatives in many different aspects of daily life.
The price of rice, especially, has been, and is predicted to keep, rising because of several factors. First and foremost, the land and irrigation water that was previously used in the production of rice is being lost to urbanization and industrialization. Furthermore, Asia's middle class, and their increased want for meat and dairy products has also depleted the production of grains and crops. Environmental factors, such as floods and droughts, have only worsened the situation. Now, export restrictions in place in major rice producing countries, such as India, China, Vietnam, and Egypt, could not emerge at a worse time.
It is not just a matter of feeling sympathy and hoping that the situation "might" get better. Action needs to be taken to improve the conditions of those starving to death, when others enjoy lavish and extravagant lifestyles with careless attitudes. A drastic increase in rice productivity and supply, as well as that of other grains, must occur in order for the hungry to be fed, the starving to be nourished, the famished to be given hope.
Keti Tsereteli
Human Geography
Period 4
Couldn't they used something else other then corn. Many products and foods use corn as an ingredient. So by using corn to create ethanol they are just taking it away from other products. This is why the price of foods is going to rise since their is'nt going to be enough corn to go around. They really should think of a differnt item to use... and preferably not a food item.
Instead of trying to use resources like corn to produce biofuels as an alternative to gasoline, I think we should just try to use less resources period. The U.S. leads the world in oil consumption by far, and instead of simply switching to biofuels, I think we should just try to make changes in our lifestyles to try to conserve resources. It's amazing that something as simple as carpooling or walking when possible can actually affect whether people across the world have food or not, but this article seems to suggest that connection. If Americans quit using resources for our own comfort and convenience and instead used them to help people who need it, a huge difference could be made.
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