Global prices for food staples have risen dramatically, resulting in protests and unrest around the world.
What factors are driving prices up, and can they be tamed? What will the political fallout be for governments that fail to act, and what role can global institutions play?
Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?
* Food scarcity and the resulting higher food prices are pushing poor countries into chaos.
* Such “failed states” can export disease, terrorism, illicit drugs, weapons and refugees.
* Water shortages, soil losses and rising temperatures from global warming are placing severe limits on food production.
* Without massive and rapid intervention to address these three environmental factors, the author argues, a series of government collapses could threaten the world order.
Read More at Scientific American…
FOOD SECURITY – Our forgotten crisis
We do not see many references to the food crisis in the news these days. Headlines are dominated by the economic slowdown. Forgotten though it may be, however, the food crisis has not gone away. Millions of people still experience it every day.
Prices may have fallen on global markets, but they nonetheless remain close to their 2008 peaks in many poor countries. The sheer volatility of prices makes it difficult for farmers to invest and plan; the global credit crunch compounds the problem.
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Please check out the new book ENOUGH: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty by Wall Street Journal reporters Roger Thurow & Scott Kilman for a vivid narrative history of today’s food crisis….