Food riots are beginning
And will soon be in a grocery store near you.
I’m talking about the food crisis. Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs have doubled or tripled, with much of the increase taking place just in the last few months. High food prices dismay even relatively well-off Americans — but they’re truly devastating in poor countries, where food often accounts for more than half a family’s spending.
There have already been food riots around the world. Food-supplying countries, from Ukraine to Argentina, have been limiting exports in an attempt to protect domestic consumers, leading to angry protests from farmers — and making things even worse in countries that need to import food.
He lists the things that aren’t controllable at the moment: drought, rising demand for beef, oil, etc, then gets to the point:
Where the effects of bad policy are clearest, however, is in the rise of demon ethanol and other biofuels.
The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a “scam.”
This is especially true of corn ethanol: even on optimistic estimates, producing a gallon of ethanol from corn uses most of the energy the gallon contains. But it turns out that even seemingly “good” biofuel policies, like Brazil’s use of ethanol from sugar cane, accelerate the pace of climate change by promoting deforestation.
And meanwhile, land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis. You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.
What can we do? Krugman’s conclusion:
What should be done? The most immediate need is more aid to people in distress: the U.N.’s World Food Program put out a desperate appeal for more funds.
We also need a pushback against biofuels, which turn out to have been a terrible mistake.
But it’s not clear how much can be done. Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past.
Ethanol is a scam to make quick money. There are other ways to lessen the demand for oil. We already have the technology. Let’s make sure the next Democratic president has the facts.
crossposted at Rants from the Rookery
April 7th, 2008 at 11:17 am
[…] Time to stop wasting gas on lawnmowers. Dig up the grass and plant some okra. […]
April 7th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
krugman’s article is a scam. the main engine behind the explosion in food prices is investment money fleeing the subprime market and looking for a new home. no mention of this in krugman article.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Victory gardens for everyone!
April 7th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Krugman’s correct, though a bit of a doomsayer. Cheaper food prices are definitely achievable with smarter and more innovative people in government and business.
But it takes an aroused electorate to make that happen as I advanced in my longwinded post earlier today.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:59 am
“…it takes about 700 calories’ worth of animal feed to produce a 100-calorie piece of beef, this change in diet increases the overall demand for grains.”
The reasons for you to stop eating meat keep piling up. Our factory farming system is the hidden source of greenhouse gases no one’s talking about.