Food shortage predicted
The world is only ten weeks away from running out of wheat supplies
The crisis has pushed prices to an all-time high.
It could lead to further increases in the price of bread, beer, biscuits and other basic foods.
Two successive years of disastrous wheat harvests have lead to this. Even though production has fallen by only 6.25%, this is significant, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Booming populations and a switch to a meat-rich diet in the developing world also mean that about 110m tons of the world’s annual wheat crop is being diverted to feed livestock.
Heatwaves have caused a slump in harvests last year in eastern Europe, Canada, Morocco and Australia, all big wheat producers. Wheat stocks have fallen to their lowest levels for 50 years.
Though shortages are often blamed on the use of land for biofuel crops, the main biofuel cereal crop is maize, not wheat. Farmers have brought millions of acres of fallow land into production and the FAO predicts that the shortages could be eliminated within 12 months. [more]
climate change
China is also facing food shortages and price rises for different reasons.
The heaviest snowfall for 50 years has severely hit central and southern China, which provide most of the country’s winter fruit and vegetables.
Blizzards have destroyed crops and shut down transport.
If the bad weather persists, China’s economic losses could run into billions of yuan, threatening the country’s growth this year. The national weather forecaster said the freezing conditions would continue for the next 10 days.
Both the unusual heatwaves and blizzards are blamed on climate change by many experts.
increasingly vulnerable
David Cameron, Conservative leader, told the National Farmers’ Union’s centenary conference that as a country, the UK was 60% self-sufficient in food, today compared to 72% in 1996.
“Yet just as we are [ ] depending more and more on foreign farmers to fill our shopping bags, cupboards and fridges, so the days of abundant food from around the world may well be coming to an end,” he said.
Changes in people’s diets and in climate will cause a global “food crunch”.
Island harvest
Our own harvest here was down by about 20%, Chris Sprackling of Isle of Wight Grain said. This is in good part due to the price being held down artificially for the past five years - at half the previous price. So farmers couldn’t make sufficient return to make it worthwhile, and didn’t even plant the seed.
Action:
Join a local Permaculture Group or horticultural association and start your own vegetable plot.
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