World carryover stocks of grain, the amount in the bin when the next harvest begins, are the most basic measure of food security.
unfortunately I think the price of grain, and how we use and distribute it, is going to be much more relevant than good/bad years of harvest, etc.
The Irish Bread Bakers Association (IBBA) has said it will be passing on increased production costs to retailers early in 2007.
In a statement, the organisation - which represents companies such as Johnston, Mooney & O'Brien and Brennans - said that continuing dramatic increases in the international price of wheat had driven the production costs for bread 'significantly higher'.
It blamed poor harvests in Australia, the Ukraine, Argentina and North America, which had pushed the price of wheat to ten-year highs as world stockpiles had fallen to their lowest levels in 25 years.
Paul Kelly, director of Food and Drink Industry Ireland, said bread bakers were experiencing increases of up to 25% in the cost of flour, the main ingredient in bread. 'This is on top of increases of over 30% in the cost of gas, the main energy source in baking bread,' he added. Mr Kelly said there was no sign of any improvement, and if anything the situation was worsening.
He said that while IBBA members were committed to keeping prices low, they could not absorb the cost increases indefinitely and had no option but to pass on the rises.
No one in the 1st world will notice a few more dying Africans.
The single most momentous environmental image of 2006 was a holiday snap. Of sorts. It showed typical European package tourists on a nice sandy beach in Tenerife. Until a few minutes before the picture was taken, on August 3 on Tejita beach in Granadilla, it had been a day of utter normality for these tourists. Then something very different erupted on to the scene.
From the sea came a boat. Out of it fell pitiful figures - exhausted, terrified, dehydrated, starving. They were African migrants who, out of desperation, had risked the long voyage from the African coast to the Canaries; for the Canaries are part of Europe, a place of hope and opportunity. What did the tourists do? They did the decent thing. They rushed to the aid of fellow men and women.
But will they offer such a welcome when the boat people are not just a boatload, but a whole country- or region-load? For that is coming. As climate change takes hold this century, agriculture may fail in some of the poorest and most densely populated parts of the world.
Sir Crispin Tickell, Britain's former Ambassador to the UN, who is one of the most far-sighted of environmental commentators, pointed out as long ago as 1990 that global warming is likely to create environmental refugees in the hundreds of millions. We have paid little attention to his warning.
But if you look at the picture taken on Tejita beach, you can see something even more dramatic than the fact that the ordinary European holidaymaker has a lifestyle most Africans can only dream of. You can see the future, starting to happen.
Ludi wrote:But, in spite of this, even in spite of people pointing out these dangers for decades, no significant changes are being made, nor will they be, in my unhappy opinion.
Simply switching to a plant-based diet would be a good choice for many reasons, but simply that, with no other lifestyle changes, is not enough to deal with the magnitude of the problems we face.... We're facing the confluence of events which will lay bare the fact that our way of life is no longer viable, that its basic premises are faulty,
Ayame wrote:The global cupboard will be raided again this year.
World Grain: Despite Record Crop Forecast, Stocks Expected To Shrink
The global grain market is expected to remain tight in 2007/08, as rapidly expanding consumption once again outstrips production. Consequently, world stocks are expected to be drawn down for the third straight year, falling to the lowest level in more than 25 years.
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