A Glance at the Global Food Crisis's Impact

As I have watched the news lately and sifted through the Middle East turmoil and Japan’s tragedy, more articles and news stores have surfaced on the current and future food crisis. Worldwide we are looking toward a food shortage, with limited access, rising prices, and falling incomes as a result.

Staple crops have nearly doubled in cost due to diminishing harvests, including grains such as wheat, corn, and soy. Though the rice crop has managed to stay steady in both yield and cost, other "less essential" crops have also suffered, including vegetables, fruits, and coffee. In the United States, we have experienced a 4 percent increase in food prices, which is the highest jump in price in 36 years, according to the Associated Press.

Much of this failure is due to irregular weather caused by climate change: flooding in Australia, droughts in Russia and China, and even abnormal cold temperatures in the United States, according to the Washington Post. Beyond the effects of climate change, we can look toward the change in the product end use of the common crops. Many of these stable crops are used not only for human consumption, but also for livestock consumption with the demand for meat rises globally in both developed and developing country. Corn, for example, is more commonly used for energy consumption as well, in the form of bio-fuel or ethanol.

The effect of the rise in food prices, and gas prices for that matter, is beginning to be seen as catastrophic on some levels. In developing countries, the food shortage has pushed more than 44 million people to extreme poverty, living on less than $1.25 per day. Beyond that, many are linking the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East to the instability of food prices and uncertainty of food availability, according to the World Bank.

While the effects in the United States are not as extreme as seen on the other side of the globe, we can still feel the change from out home as well. The interconnected global markets prove to make more of a difference today, as we run into shortages of crops in not only on our own land, but on our international trading partners land too.

Interestingly, Americans on average spend less than 15 percent of their expendable income on food, while globally the average settles around 40 percent or 50 percent of the household income, according to the Associated Press. So while we will likely see an increase in food prices in our grocery stores, we also have more breathing room than others around the globe to manage our funds and continue to have the ability and luxury to choose where we spend our money. Though perhaps with the increase in food costs paired with the rising gas prices, the global crisis will have more of an impact on our wallets than expected.

If you're interested in reading more, check out some of these fantastic pieces:

“Gas, Food Prices Double Whammy For Rural Families.” 21 March 2011. The Associated Press. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13472683

Shneider, Howard. “Higher food prices may be here to stay.” 14 March 2011. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/higher-food-prices-may-be-here-to-stay/2011/03/10/AByYO3V_story.html

Shneider, Howard. “Food prices push millions into poverty.” 15 March 2011. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/food-prices-push-millions-into-poverty/2011/02/15/ABwHkoQ_story.html

“Wholesalers paying more for food, suggesting higher prices to come at the grocery store.” 16 March 2011. The Associated Press. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/wholesalers-paying-more-for-food-suggesting-higher-prices-to-come-at-the-grocery-store/2011/03/16/ABpLKcd_story.html

Parker, John. “The 9 billion-people question: A special report on feeding the world.” Feb 24th 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/18200618