Will be too poor to eat…?

Well, a food related post without an actual recipe for a change.

It has been worrying to come across this BBC article re the scary rise of food cost, at pretty much an exponential scale, particularly in the last few months. Wheat alone, in the last year, has gone up by some 130% in cost, posing a big question that hangs over our head – what is going to happen to our supply of staple carbohydrates such as bread and pasta? And dairy, that vital source of proteins, will the spiralling cost turns many away from artisanal by-products that many are still associating with the term “luxury”?

Surely if this trend is to continue, food crisis that currently third world countries are experiencing is going to haunt the developing and developped countries alike. More and more would not be searching for alternative sources of food, and the associated food culture for particular society will alter drastically.

More importantly, perhaps this is not the time to push for more biofuels until it is clear that this is the way forward. Afterall, setting aside of cultivable lands as well as potential food source to become biofuels means there would be less food produced for actual consumption. It’s more prudent to be more environmentally aware and try to search for other methods of reducing fuel usage, instead of finding alternative fuels through food sources in my opinion.

I love my food, and while I try my best to be as conscientious as possible as to buy local, to buy sustainable sources, soon the cost many mean I have no choice but to turn to overproduced (and subsidised) products that are shipped internationally. Only large conglomerates can then survived in the market, while small farmers get pushed further and further away from survival. Surely this can’t be good for economy either, no?

I need to research more into this issue, when I have some free time.

Come to think of it, there are so many issues that are raising concerns all the time, that I don’t quite know where to start anymore either. But for now, I shall start with the love of my life – food.