Food prices rise as food oil prices soar January 22, 2008
Posted by Al in : food,interesting,politics,scary , trackbackOil for cooking is in short supply: demand has risen, and the growth of bio-fuels has cut into what supplies there once were. Countries in Asia are already starting to see severe shortages of food oil (I was watching a news report on Hong Kong TV only the other night on the spiraling costs of cooking oil), and the situation only looks to be getting worse, rather than better. Whilst this costly oil might seem unfortunate to you and me, it’s just the first sign of a large increase in the overall cost of food that we’ll all be experiencing over the next few years.
Food production has taken a hit where farmers have started growing for bio-fuels instead, but more importantly is the changing status of the most populated nations on Earth: China and India are currently undergoing a huge social shift which is have a huge impact on food production. Population density has shifted in developing countries, with many farmers moving into the cities – this has caused a demand for meat and “speciality” vegetables, and so staple crops, such as wheat, soy and rice, have suffered. Cities in developing countries are sprawling across good farm land, restricting growing to less suitable areas and polluting the land surrounding them. The ex-farmers who have moved to the cities are no longer growing their own food, and so need to buy this from the remaining farmers – which cuts down on surplus food and is starting to cause countries like China to begin importing food. And, to top it all off, the cost of fuel oil is higher than ever, which means any food needing to be transported is going to cost more.
Be prepared for a serious rise in food prices this year and next. If you’re a survivalist, with plenty of storage, then it might well be worth stocking up on tinned food now.
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