Global food crisis: what you can do

By Paul Hagerman  |  Special to ChristianWeek

Most Canadians don’t spend much of their day worrying about whether they can afford to feed their family. It’s a different story for millions around the world.

The price of rice, the staple food for half the world’s population, more than doubled between January and May 2008. Other staple foods have experienced similar increases. Over one billion people live on less than $1 per day, and most of their money is spent on food.

Though it only hit the newspaper headlines this spring, this “global food crisis” has been building for several years. Global food production is not increasing as fast as the demand, and food stocks have been getting lower each year. Higher oil prices and other economic factors explain part of the increase, but there are several other reasons as well.

Contributing factors

Grain for fuel: The biofuel industry in the U.S. will use an estimated 40 per cent of the current corn crop, and several others countries have strong interest, driven primarily by government policies. Even biofuel boosters admit this is part of the reason food prices are going up.

Grain for animals: As middle-class incomes rise in developing countries, people shift their diets to eat more grain-fed meat and dairy products. World meat consumption is growing almost twice as fast as world population. Per capita meat consumption in China has more than doubled in the past 20 years, though it is still half of Canadian meat consumption.

Less grain produced: Some grain-exporting countries have experienced significant weather-related shortfalls in production. Global grain production is down two years in row. Climate change seems to be resulting in less predictable weather. Changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, stronger storms and wider ranges for agricultural pests may soon have a much greater impact on food production.

Untapped potential: In sub-Saharan Africa crops yields have been virtually unchanged since 1980. There is huge untapped potential for more food production in the countries where it is needed, but agriculture has been largely ignored in favour of urban and industrial interests. Farmers make up about three quarters of the people in the developing world, but agriculture receives only about four per cent of the money from national budgets and only three and a half per cent of international development assistance. Without good irrigation systems, relevant research, rural roads and local markets, farmers have been unable to intensify their production. An unfair system of international trade has pitted them against cheap food imports from Europe and the U.S. and many have responded by leaving the land and heading to the city.

How does the food crisis affect Canadians?

The increase in prices for food commodities will likely have only a small impact on the average Canadian. For a family earning $40,000 per year food costs will likely go from 10 to 10.6 per cent of their total income.

So why should we care about this food crisis?
Imagine your annual income is only $800, which is typical of many families in developing countries. You are already spending about 50 per cent of your income on food, and the current rise in prices will push that to over 60 per cent. To cope with this difference you must choose between taking your child out of school to earn extra income, foregoing needed medical care or skipping meals. Each choice has wider implications, and each choice causes suffering.

What can we do?

Donate. In the short term there is a need for more food aid to deal with the immediate problem of hunger. National governments and the United Nations have committed money and attention to the issue. Churches and NGOs have launched appeals for donations.

Speak up. The world’s food system is not working for hundreds of millions of people. Talk to your friends, discuss it at your church, bring it up with your business associates, write to your member of parliament. Ask them why Canada doesn’t direct any of its foreign aid specifically to agriculture and why it is pushing for trade liberalization in developing countries, given the damage it causes to farmers and food production in those countries.

Adjust your lifestyle. There are changes you can make in your own life that will help address the global food crisis. Even if your actions are small, the symbolism will inspire others. For example, you can buy fair trade products to support farmers in developing countries directly, reduce your meat consumption, live a low-energy lifestyle and learn more about food issues.

As fellow humans, we feel the call to alleviate poverty and hunger, to respond to those in need before desperation and conflict take over.

As Christians, we hear Jesus’ voice reminding us to care for the sick, the hungry and the stranger, saying: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Paul Hagerman is a policy advisor for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

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