Food Riots?

The weekend has brought a host of articles about the global impacts in a sudden surge in the price of rice in the last two weeks the global price of rice has risen by 50%.  Last Friday alone the price rose by 10%, which is due to have some very serious social consequences across the world.  As urbanisation has risen, many of those who live in urban areas have switched to rice as a staple and many people are ill-prepared to meet these dramatic rises in prices.  Countries as diverse as Nigeria, Vietnam and the Philippines are taking drastic measures to contain the problem. 

Fischler – Food Security Warning

The Farmers’ Guardian is carrying this interesting story about Franz Fischlers concerns about food security. 

Food Ethics Council – The future cost of food

The highly influential Food Ethics Council is reporting on food stock piling and featuring the future cost of food in their latest magazine. 

Baseline trends from the US

This link takes you to a report by the US Department of Agriculture, obviously focused on the US but has important things to say about the global market, 

The Ecologist – the end of food?

The latest edition of The Ecologist magazine features a trenchant discussion of the future of food.  It is not available on line for free, but as an example of the perspective that the magazine takes there is this article that shows their angle. 

Fair Trade ?

An article in The Guardian about the impacts of Fairtrade on communities, although not directly about the price of food, it has some interesting resonances.