Gregory MacDonald talks about food price volatility.
I ran across this a few days ago and meant to link it but, Squirrel!
So, anyway, the bottom line is pretty obvious. Food prices are rising much faster than wages or returns on investments, or even the amount of food stamp benefits being provided to the poor. I have had people claim that food prices really aren't going up "that much", ignoring the "downsizing" of containers as retailers try to sell you less food for the same or slightly more money.
There are numerous causes, one being the necessity of fossil fuels for intensive, industrial-level agribusiness. As crude oil prices have spiked, the cost of food has risen. Corn diverted to ethanol production helped drive up the price of meat for a while -- we hope that fever-dream has passed. Population growth, the change of diets in China, the loss of arable land, along with decreasing access to water for irrigation are also factors.
Click the link. It's worth the time to read.
And on a related note, Greeks turn to farming.
ReplyDeleteThe rule is pretty simple, and Christian, from 2 Thessalonians 3:10, If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
That is a pretty scary article. We are so spoiled by cheap food in the US. I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods but around here, there appears to be a lot of under-utilized pasture land and a lot of forested land that could become pasture land. (Not much crop land around here.) I wonder if the South will re-convert from pine plantations to food production as the price of food continues to go up.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible. Places like where I live, where the topsoil isn't very deep can be productive if you make good use of your livestock. My folks didn't have much, but we always ate well.
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