Treating Rising Food Prices: Time, Financial Investments, and Care

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David Loyn of the BBC recently reported on a meeting in Rome between the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and delegates after “the price of grain hit a two-year high at a time of year when the harvest in the northern hemisphere should be pushing prices down.” Following the release of this article the BBC opened up a debate under their Have Your Say section asking readers to comment on rising food prices in their region. Comments varied from ‘yes’ to criticisms of society as a whole, yet the undermining cause of rising food prices can be treated by investing time, financial resources, and attention, to the agricultural sector.

 

Time, or more specifically, patience, is a key investment to ensure careful monitoring over food supplies like grain. Nature itself takes time to develop what has become agricultural commodities such as apples and oranges but patience is closely linked to financial investments in the field of agriculture to ensure farmers a sustainable existence and better development of the land. Ultimately, none of this matters if the political will is not present. Related to patience, care, or rather the will to foster, plays a vital role when it comes to developing and monitoring food commodities like grain. Like raising an infant, hoping for the best outcome without actually devoting time and resources towards that outcome, is not a secure way of ensuring the future. Just as children may stall in terms of growth, so too will food prices fluctuate. By monitoring agriculture around the world it becomes easier to recognize events like the rising cost of grain, and alter practices to ensure a better outcome, such as lower food prices. With that said treating rising food prices is not the same as ‘curing’ them altogether.     

 

Iceland: Fishing For A Compromise

UKPA is reporting that “in the absence of a fish quota deal with the European Union, Iceland and the Faroes declared they were stepping up their mackerel catch – absorbing the bulk of the available North Atlantic Stock”. When it comes to fishing, cooperation is essential. Management are given a quota which has to respect current predictions concerning the estimated amount of fish available. Fines can be awarded if a quota is breached as quotas are partially intended to preserve the fishing environment from activities like overfishing that leaves an area barren. Additional information on fishing quotas can be found in this article by howstuffworks which describes quotas as,

limits put in place in a wide range of areas including the following:

• Size of the fish you can keep
• Total number or pounds you can keep
• Total number of fish you can keep
• Time period that it’s legal to fish
• Fishing methods
• Fishing equipment

According to Shetland Marine News “the disagreement started after Faroe more than tripled its catch from a quota of 25,000 tonnes to 85,000 tonnes while Iceland increased its 2010 quota by 6,500 per cent from 2,000 to 130,000 tonnes” yet an article from The Press and Journal is reporting that “they also claim the EU has ignored evidence of a substantial increase in mackerel in their waters.” Regardless of reason, overfishing has the potential to devastate future harvests. Ultimately, caution is best exercised in this scenario until a concrete decision is finalized.

 

India – To Sell Or Not To Sell, Is That The Question?

The Guardian released an article today based on some finding by the Hindustan Times. Essentially the Guardian article argues that public distribution systems in India are “undermined by bureaucracy and corruption,” resulting in full warehouses and empty stomachs of ordinary citizens.

 

I decided to pursue this issue further. Using the aforementioned newspaper I visited the Hindustan Times website and learned more about their section entitled “tracking hunger”.

State	% of underweight children	% of undernutritioned children	% of hunger deaths under the age of 5
Rajasthan	40.4%	14.0%	8.5%
Gujarat	44.7%	22.3%	6.1%
Madhya Pradesh	59.8%	23.4%	9.4%
Maharashtra	36.7%	27.0%	4.7%
Karnataka	37.6%	28.1%	5.5%
Kerala	22.7%	28.6%	1.6%
West Bengal	38.5%	18.5%	5.9%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/TrackingHunger-statistics/trackinghunger/fullcoverage-FCLid.aspx

Using the statistics above one can evidently conclude that managing the nutrition of India’s future, its children, has to be a priority. To play devil’s advocate one can also argue over the credibility of such statistics. Despite being entitled “Alarming child malnutrition levels in major states” no date was provided next to the table, and if it were not for the 2010 copyright date at the bottom of the website, the credibility of these statistics could be questioned.

 

How were these statistics compiled?

What were the qualifications of a “major” state?

 

Those are but a few questions the statistics above can raise, but according to the Hindustan Times on the front page of their tracking hunger section,

 

Emerging India either does not know or ignores the statistics: Half its children are malnourished, a record worse than the world’s symbol for deprivation, sub-Saharan Africa. India is ranked 66th out of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index drawn up by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Outsiders who have never been to India, and I fall within that category, can question statistics like the one above for a long period of time, yet while questions are being asked it is evident that organization and distribution needs to be improved. Corruption has to be addressed if not for the sole reason that if one guard prematurely closes a warehouse full of food many more could perish as a result of that decision. Reasons for why corruption exists vary, but what remains constant is the belief that while the individual benefits, the collective suffer as whole. There is no such thing as working time machine, well at least not that I know of, but if there were I would like to visit India in the eighties and even the nineties to witness how the generation of today was shaped by the generations before. Ultimately, just as a strong foundation is needed to build a sturdy home so too is a strong commitment needed to improve public distribution systems in India. It is only by working with the community that such a hope can flourish into a reality.   

 

Change Accessibility, Change Lifestyle.

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 Television personalities like Oprah are increasingly advocating the benefits of  living a healthier lifestyle. Academics, such as Michael Pollan, have helped argue that what you put into your body affects how it functions.  If fruits and vegetables become more affordable through subsidizations they will make a larger number of plates. Just as fast food has become the quick and cheap fix when looking for a meal, so too does subsidizations on healthier foods positively impact a country’s population. As always, changing what you eat may not be enough. Exercise and the support of loved ones are all key steps to living healthier. Ultimately as tempting rapid change might seem, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Visiting a farmer’s market for hard to find fruits and vegetables is one solution. Growing a garden is another. There are a countless number of approaches to this growing issue but the common factors of healthy eating in conjunction with exercise, remains constant.    

 

Under Pressure: Are Farmers Being Buried By Extra Costs Associated With Farming?

The above picture of a farmer in Allahabad (India) may not reflect the farming practices of our ‘modern’ farmers, yet the basic idea remains constant. Farming is hard work. Yet farming was, is, and should always be, a way of life. Except on the continent of Antarctica, farming has been a uniquely human chore since our earliest beginnings. Regardless of whether you believe in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or even Evolution, farming is deeply integrated into our past ancestry.

This article was inspired from an article entitled “Why your Ontario peach will be bigger this morning” from the Toronto Star. Found in the Business section, reporter Dana Flavelle painted a likely scenario, all too realistic, where local farmers are “under pressure to do more with less”. Going back to this article’s picture, you might be thinking how it’s possible for any farmer to complain when they live in the developing country like Canada, with all that land, and to some degree you would be entitled to express that statement openly, but when you turn away from a lifestyle of pioneers and enter the realm of food imports, nationalism of all things becomes evoked.

Here is quote from Flavelle’s article:

“It’s been a long slow descent for Canada’s farmers, starting with the free trade agreement, the rise of the Canadian dollar and the emergence of China as a net food supplier to the globe.”

Canadian dollar? China? That explains why this article was in the Business section! Farming is a business. Unlike notable software companies which produce computer programs, and factories which produce toilet seat covers, farming produces something the consumer would be hard-pressed to ignore, food. Don’t get me wrong, without computer programs WordPress would not be possible, and without toilet seat covers sanitation would plummet, although the details of that assessment will not be provided as I’ll let you make that connection should you desire to do so. Ultimately, regardless of whether you are in India or Ontario, Ohio or Peru, financial aid, currency itself, goes a long way when it comes down to guaranteeing a future for your farm today.

In a growing age of scientists, mathematicians, writers, even technicians, the simple farmer is anything but simple. In all likelihood their farm was passed down from generation to generation, patience, a lesson worth learning. As I finished reading to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, which touches on the importance of the farm, specifically the rice farms in China, I learned a lesson about farming that most people do not know. Farming is not useless. You simply cannot just pop down to a science lab to pick up your weekly grocery list, and it should never come to that. In the balance between convenience and eating healthy small town local farmers are the unsung heroes, of modern agriculture. Agriculture. That includes the word, ‘culture’ within. Farming is a lifestyle, a culture, many of us are privileged or unprivileged (I cannot decide which) to experience.  You can choose to call a farmer dirty and old because of their culture, but should you ever a visit a farmers’ market and witness the jewels of their hard work, you would instantly regret dismissing a community of people as antiquated.

I may not be a farmer, I may not have offspring who choose to be farmers, but in all likelihood my ancestors were farmers. If you happen to stumble across this entry, know a farmer, respect farmers, or just have an opinion, feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks.

P.S. Upon review I noticed I failed to answer the initial question in the title. Here are my opinions. Farming is a business that should be treated like any other. Investments need to be evaluated on return, and as such, investors need to do their research. Yet I believe small town farmers are being bridled with extra costs that could be decreased, even if by a slight margin. Every little bit helps. With that said however, I know of  rarely any other business except the Pharmaceutical/Medicinal trade with as strong a tie to human health and well being, as farmers have. We literally consume their product.

 

Could the BP oil spill result in the US increasing imports on seafood?

 

According to an article by Abramson from the New York Times yesterday, the BP oil spill has closed a lifestyle for many fishermen for a longer period of time “than anyone here can remember.” Daniel Workman wrote a month ago of the contamination this leak has unleashed on marine wildlife. A belief, that is implicitly echoed by Steve Adams writer for The Patriot Ledger who quoted the President and CEO of South Boston importer Stavis Seafoods, Richard Stavis, as saying “there could be a shortage. It could get significantly more expensive and it could knock it off menus,” in reference to seafood demand. Unless there is quick clean up and restoration to the marine environment in the Gulf, the odds of an increase in price for that seafood buffet increase in cost unless businesses exercise importing cheap seafood from other parts of the United States that have fisheries or other countries altogether. The hope that fishermen in the Gulf will be able to return to work swiftly is still alive but numerous other factors can influence the conclusion of this disaster. Factors such as time management, clean-up costs, and even the task of capping the oil leak to prevent future spillage, will need to be planned and executed with efficiency and regard for the environment. As to send a fisherman or fisherwoman to do what they’re good at in a polluted environment, is sending their income down the drain altogether from other issues that may arise such as food poisoning.

 

Does the relation between the economy and the environment always have to result in the economy taking a metaphorical beating?

Image by Brooklyn Museum via Flickr

 

According to an article posted today on the Khaleej Times Online, Egypt’s economy is predicted to experience an increase in “stress” due to the affects of climate change on the agricultural sector. According to Reuters it was reported that 10 to 12 percent of land used for farming could be lost due to potential occurrences of flooding and the expected decrease in fertility. Yet the economy does not always have to shape to the environment. If necessity is the mother of invention, as Plato is famously known for remarking, then there is profit via the creation of environmental technology to alter the climate, clean up oil spills, or even capture and contain greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Just as a coin always has two sides, so too does the relationship between economies and the environment. Drought is devastating for farmers who may not have supplementary income but good business evolves to the task at hand, creating more jobs, and hopefully at the same time increases awareness as to the effect interactions between the environment and people ultimately has on food production.

 

It’s not where, but HOW food is produced that matters

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Local does not always mean better. Growing techniques can make all the difference when it comes to producing fruits, vegetables and grains that are healthy for consumption. Understanding how your food is produced is equally important as understanding where it comes from, as once you know what’s going into the soil, it becomes easier to judge what’s going into your body as well. This may sound pretty simplistic, and for a small blog posting it is. But ultimately even if you don’t believe you need to know how your food is produced, it does not hurt to do some research into where your supermarkets are importing the food from, and what those local standards are. Some farmers may use pesticides, some may not. Doing a bit of civilian research can uncover those answers and possibly increase your awareness on the secret lives of the food you consume, before you consumed them.

Some places to start your research:

Your supermarket website

The labels on imported food products