The Food Crisis: 18 different perpectives

The Report on Business magazine, published by the Globe and Mail, features an article with a number of statements from experts responding to the question of "how do we feed seven billion people—and counting?" 18 experts (alas, all men and not a single woman) in the area of agricultural sciences, food systems, economics and population/demography provide their opinions on different strategies/directions we can pursue to alleviate the food crisis. There are a number of ideas -- some more compelling and realistic than others -- that can mobilize change and action in the policies we implement with regards to the costs of food, international trade, crop diversity, taxation, better engaging with farmers and more.

The one commentary that resonated with me was Finn Poschmann's column on killing ethanol subsidies. Finn writes:

"Ethanol, we think, has been a measurable shock to the system in the last half of the recent decade. In the 1990s, U.S. farmers had about 75 million acres in different kinds of wheat. By the end of the decade, that was starting to collapse. By 2010, the area was down to under 54 million acres in wheat. So you’ve taken something like 20 million acres of production out of wheat. Where has it gone? Lentils, barley and other things that are popular. But also to corn: In the U.S. market in the 1990s, you were typically cruising at 75 to 80 million acres planted in corn. After 2007, you were over 85 to 90 million acres".

Corn based ethanol is a highly contentious topic that I try to avoid engaging in. However, on a practical level, it is problematic because the subsidization of corn growth for ethanol production limits the supply of corn being used for food consumption as more and more gas stations across the U.S. offer it in the form of blended fuel (E85). This pushes up the price of corn and becomes incredibly problematic for places or markets that are dependent on relatively affordable corn prices (i.e. Mexico and its tortilla food market) thereby becoming more economically burdensome for corn consumers.

There are a whole range of bio-fuel options that exist around the world. While I am not advocating for every single one, in principle, it would be wise to consider fuels (e.g. cellulosic fuel) that do not drastically affect or alter the prices of crops.

You can read the 18 different perspectives here.