Starving for Fuel? How Ethanol Production Contributes to Global Hunger

[suchandra]

Is it ethnically justifiable to use corn for producing ethanol to make car fuel or is there some hidden karma involved?

"65 million tons of U.S. corn going into ethanol this year represent nearly one-sixth of the country’s grain harvest". And: "The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain needed to fill that same tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people. "

 

Starving for Fuel: How Ethanol Production Contributes to Global Hunger

by Lester Brown, The Globalist

 

Rising oil prices have prompted an increased demand for food-based fuels. Many say these have the potential to wean developed nations off of their oil addictions. However, as Lester Brown writes, the increasing production of food-based fuels could cause more people to suffer from hunger and add to global political instability.

Cars, not people, will claim most of the increase in world grain consumption this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that world grain use will grow by 30 million tons in 2008. Of this, 18 million tons will be used to produce fuel for cars in the United States, leaving only 6 million tons to satisfy the world’s growing food needs.

In agricultural terms, the world appetite for automotive fuel is insatiable. The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain needed to fill that same tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people.

 

Investors are jumping on the highly profitable biofuel-bandwagon so fast that hardly a day goes by without another ethanol distillery or biodiesel refinery being announced somewhere in the world.

 

A booming industry

 

The amount of corn used in U.S. ethanol distilleries has tripled in five years — jumping from 18 million tons in 2001 to an estimated 65 million tons from the 2007 crop.

 

In some U.S. Corn Belt states, ethanol distilleries are taking over the corn supply. In Iowa, a staggering 55 ethanol plants are in operation or have been proposed.

 

Food or fuel?

 

Iowa State University economist Bob Wisner observes that if all these plants are built, they would use virtually all the corn grown in Iowa.

 

In South Dakota, a top-ten corn-growing state, ethanol distilleries are already claiming over half of the corn harvest.

 

With so many distilleries being built, livestock and poultry producers fear there may not be enough corn to produce meat, milk and eggs. And since the United States supplies 70% of world corn exports, corn-importing countries are worried about their supply as well.

 

Since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles, including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans and sugarcane, the line between the food and energy sectors is disappearing.

 

Market affects

 

Historically, food processors and livestock producers that converted these farm commodities into products for supermarket shelves were the only buyers. Now there is another group, those buying for the ethanol distilleries and biodiesel refineries that supply service stations.

 

As the price of oil climbs, it becomes increasingly profitable to convert farm commodities into automotive fuel — either ethanol or biodiesel. In effect, the price of oil becomes the support price for food commodities. Whenever the food value of a commodity drops below its fuel value, the market will convert it into fuel.

 

Lacking efficiency

 

Crop-based fuel production is now concentrated in Brazil, the United States and Western Europe. The United States and Brazil each produced over 4 billion gallons (16 billion liters) of ethanol in 2005. While Brazil uses sugarcane as the feedstock, U.S. distillers use grain — mostly corn.

 

The 65 million tons of U.S. corn going into ethanol this year represent nearly one-sixth of the country’s grain harvest — but will supply only 3% of its automotive fuel.

 

Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer and exporter, is now converting half of its sugar harvest into fuel ethanol. With just 10% of the world’s sugar harvest going into ethanol, the price of sugar has doubled. The availability of cheap sugar may now be history.

 

Europe's choice

 

In Europe, the emphasis is on producing biodiesel. In 2007, the European Union (EU) produced 2.1 billion gallons of biofuels. Of this, 958 million gallons were biodiesel, produced from vegetable oil, mostly in Germany and France.

 

And 818 million gallons were ethanol, most of it distilled from grain in France, Spain and Germany. Margarine manufacturers, struggling to compete with subsidized biodiesel refineries, have asked the European Parliament for help.

 

Asia's ethanol

 

In Asia, China and India are both building ethanol distilleries. In 2007, China converted some 3 million tons of grain — mostly corn, but also some wheat and rice — into ethanol. In India, ethanol is produced largely from sugarcane. Thailand is concentrating on ethanol from cassava, while Malaysia and Indonesia are investing heavily in additional palm oil plantations and new biodiesel refineries.

 

Within the last year or so, Malaysia has approved 32 biodiesel refineries, but recently has suspended further licensing while it assesses the adequacy of its palm oil supplies.

 

A crop-based fuel juggernaut

 

The profitability of crop-based fuel production has created an investment juggernaut. With a U.S. ethanol subsidy of 51¢ per gallon in effect until 2010, and with oil priced at $70 per barrel, distilling fuel alcohol from corn promises huge profits for years to come.

 

In May 2007, the 120th U.S. ethanol distillery came on line. Seven of these distilleries are being expanded. Another 34 or so are under construction and scores more are in the planning stages.

 

Spreading hunger

 

The soaring demand for crop-based fuel is coming when world grain stocks are at the lowest level in 34 years and when there are 76 million more people to feed each year.

 

The U.S. investment in biofuel production in response to runaway oil prices is spiraling out of control, threatening to draw grain away from the production of beef, pork, poultry, milk and eggs.

 

And, most seriously, the vast number of distilleries in operation, under construction and in the planning stages threaten to reduce the amount of grain available for direct human consumption. Simply put, the stage is being set for a head-on collision between the world’s 800 million affluent automobile owners and food consumers.This would enable motorists to do short-distance driving, such as the daily commute, with electricity. If wind-rich countries such as the United States, China, and those in Europe invest heavily in wind farms to feed cheap electricity into the grid, cars could run primarily on wind energy, and at the gasoline equivalent of less than $1 a gallon.

 

Ethanol fueled instability

 

Given the insatiable appetite of cars for fuel, higher grain prices appear inevitable. The only question is when food prices will rise and by how much. Indeed, in recent months, wheat and corn prices have risen by one fifth.

 

For the two billion poorest people in the world, many of whom spend half or more of their income on food, rising grain prices can quickly become life threatening. The broader risk is that rising food prices could spread hunger and generate political instability in low-income countries that import grain, such as Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria and Mexico.

 

Alternatives to food-based fuel

 

This instability could, in turn, disrupt global economic progress. If ethanol distillery demand for grain continues its explosive growth, driving grain prices to dangerous highs, the U.S. government may have to intervene in the unfolding global conflict over food between affluent motorists and low-income consumers.

 

There are alternatives to using food-based fuels. For example, the equivalent of the 3% gain in automotive fuel supplies from ethanol could be achieved several times over — and at a fraction of the cost — simply by raising auto fuel efficiency standards by 20%. Investing in public transport could reduce overall dependence on cars.

There are other fuel options as well. While there are no alternatives to food for people, there is an alternative source of fuel for cars, one that involves shifting to highly efficient gas-electric hybrid plug-ins.

 

This would enable motorists to do short-distance driving, such as the daily commute, with electricity. If wind-rich countries such as the United States, China, and those in Europe invest heavily in wind farms to feed cheap electricity into the grid, cars could run primarily on wind energy, and at the gasoline equivalent of less than $1 a gallon.

 

[Inedible]

I heard that ethanol is also why so much high fructose corn syrup is going into our food. I heard it can't be disposed of because it had been in contact with alcohol.

[suchandra]

 

I heard that ethanol is also why so much high fructose corn syrup is going into our food. I heard it can't be disposed of because it had been in contact with alcohol.

Scientists should be forced to admit that they don't know even how to properly fuel cars without polluting nature. Instead of telling farmers to produce wheat and other valuable nice vegetable they pay them for producing corn which is being turned with big effort into flammable liquid to power environmentally unfriendly combustion engines. Isn't this stupid? All birds, elelphants, horses convert energy very easily and have sufficient strength to properly work. But we advanced human beings have an oil problem to guarantee our mobility?

[Murali_Mohan_das]

 

The U.S. investment in biofuel production in response to runaway oil prices is spiraling out of control, threatening to draw grain away from the production of beef, pork, poultry, milk and eggs.

 

This a key point. By far, most of the grain in the U.S. goes to feed livestock--not people. There are tremendous inefficiencies involved in meat production (according to John Robbins' research, 90% of the protein, 99% of the carbohydrates, and 100% of the fiber from the feed grain are lost when cycling it through livestock).

 

If everybody became vegan, or at least vegetarian, there would be a lot more grain both to feed people and to make into fuel.

[suchandra]

 

This a key point. By far, most of the grain in the U.S. goes to feed livestock--not people. There are tremendous inefficiencies involved in meat production (according to John Robbins' research, 90% of the protein, 99% of the carbohydrates, and 100% of the fiber from the feed grain are lost when cycling it through livestock).

 

If everybody became vegan, or at least vegetarian, there would be a lot more grain both to feed people and to make into fuel.

The actual concern of present global leaders is overpopulation, how to get a grip on not allowing population to get out of control. However, "That is not the cause. The cause is that as soon as people will become godless, the supply will be stopped."

 

"This is a bogus propaganda: because the population is big therefore we cannot… This is our incapability. We cannot manage—we accuse that overpopulation. But actually if you study śāstra, if you accept Kṛṣṇa as the father, the Supreme Lord, He is not a poor man. He knows. Vedāhaṁ samatītāni. He knows past, present and future. So it is not that because there is overpopulation there is scarcity of food. No. That is not the cause. The cause is that as soon as people will become godless, the supply will be stopped. That time is coming. That time is coming. It is predicted in the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam that anāvṛṣṭi and kara-pīḍitāḥ. People gradually being godless, they will be suffering from these three principles. There will be no more rainfall. Therefore last time when I was in Europe—I do not know what has happened now—there was scarcity of rain, and England was making plan to import water. So this is scientist’s program. There is enough water in the sea, but they cannot use it. So that is hand of God. Unless God helps, Kṛṣṇa helps, mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram… [bg. 9.10] The vast ocean, although the water is there, you cannot use one drop. You are so controlled.

 

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate [bg. 3.27]

 

Ahaṅkāra, our false egotism, we are suffering by the punishment offered by nature.

 

So the cause is godlessness. If we become godless, the prakṛti will restrict supply—so much so there will be anāvṛṣṭi. How can control? Because you may be very great scientist, you may deny the existence of God, but when there is anāvṛṣṭi you are looking up in the sky, “When there will be cloud? When there will be rain?” Then taking this plea, our government will tax for relief fund. That is all mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Anāvṛṣṭi karo-pīḍita. People will be so much harassed. And ācchina-dāra-draviṇā giri-kānanam. They will be so much harassed by these three principles—no rainfall, scarcity of grains, and taxed heavily by the government… They will be so much harassed that ācchinna-dāra-draviṇā giri-kānanam, they will be forced to leave home, that, “Now it is hopeless. I cannot manage. Let me go to the forest.” And there will be… Now we are getting rice or wheat or sugar. But these things will be completely stopped. Now we are getting milk powder, but there will be no milk. It is not my imagination. They described in the symptoms of Kali-yuga, that the end of Kali-yuga these things will happen. That means more and more suffering. More and more become godless, more and more suffering will be inflicted by the laws of nature."

 

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Bombay, December 25, 1976

761225SB.BOM

http://causelessmercy.com/t/t/761225SB.BOM.htm?i=1976

[Murali_Mohan_das]

Yep. When people complain about overpopulation, I scoff at that.

 

The problem is not overpopulation. The problem is population density (in certain areas) and over-consumption. Those of us who are piggish westerners cannot continue to live our horrifically wasteful and indulgent lifestyles. There's plenty of open space--why are most of our cities built on prime agricultural land?

[AncientMariner]

Personally I am praying for an avatar and I mean the full blown kind that saves the devotees and eliminates the asuras. As far as I am concerned good arguments have fallen on deaf ears but what do I know.

[suchandra]

 

Personally I am praying for an avatar and I mean the full blown kind that saves the devotees and eliminates the asuras. As far as I am concerned good arguments have fallen on deaf ears but what do I know.

Well spoken AncientMariner, there's a class of people who understood very well that vedic farming could solve this planet. Instead they deliberately reject it and keep people in ignorance. No, the ears are not deaf, they understood precisly what the Vedas say. Whenever Krishna incarnates He doesn't waste much time with such kind.

 

Biofuels 'risk global starvation'

 

 

Lewis Smith and Francis Elliott – The Australian March 07, 2008

 

The rush towards biofuels is theatening world food production and the lives of billions of people, the British Government's chief scientific adviser said yesterday.

 

John Beddington put himself at odds with ministers who have committed Britain to large increases in the use of biofuels over the coming decades.

 

In his first important public speech since he was appointed, Professor Beddington described the potential impacts of food shortages as the “elephant in the room” and a problem which rivalled that of climate change.

 

“It’s very hard to imagine how we can see the world growing enough crops to produce renewable energy and at the same time meet the enormous demand for food,” he told a conference on sustainability in London yesterday.

 

“The supply of food really isn’t keeping up.”

 

By 2030, he said, the world population would have increased to such an extent that a 50 per cent increase in food production would be needed. By 2080 it would need to double. But the rush to biofuels – allegedly environmentally friendly – meant that increasing amount of arable land had been given over to fuel rather than food.

 

The world’s population is forecast to increase from the six billion at the start of the millennium to nine billion by 2050. Already biofuels have contributed to the rapid rise in international wheat prices and Professor Beddington cautioned that it was likely to be only a matter of time before shoppers in Britain faced big price rises because of the soaring cost of feeding livestock.

 

His comments come just a month after the Government welcomed a European Commission target requiring 10 per cent of all fuel sold in British service stations to be derived from plants within 12 years. Already biofuels attract a 20p per litre reduction in duty to encourage their uptake.

 

Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, recently announced additional funding for biofuel research and farmers can claim subsidies to grow crops for energy.

 

Last year US President George W. Bush called for a massive increase in the use of ethanol in the US over the next decade. The US now devotes more acreage to growing corn than at any time since 1944. Farmers planted 90.5 million acres in 2007, 15 per cent more than a year before.

 

If White House efforts to double ethanol production this year are achieved, and in due course 40 per cent of that corn ends up in petrol tanks, the world will face a harder and costlier time feeding itself.

 

A spokesman for Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, insisted that the Government was well aware of the possible negative effects of biofuels.

“We take this issue very seriously and we are not prepared to go beyond current target levels for biofuels until we are satisfied it can be done sustainably.”

 

Professor Beddington said that the prospect of food shortages over the next 20 years was so acute that politicians, scientists and farmers must begin to tackle it immediately.

 

“Climate change is a real issue and is rightly being dealt with by major global investment,” he said afterwards. “However, I am concerned there is another major issue along a similar time scale, an elephant in the room – that of food and energy security. This is giving me and many of my scientific colleagues much concern.”

 

Population levels are growing so fast already that an extra six million people are born every month. Growing enough food for everyone was further challenged, he said, because of climate change, which was likely to lead to a shortage of water.

 

Scientists say that intense dry spells will become more frequent over the next century. The supply of water will be put under further pressure because of the increased number of people who need it, not only to drink but to keep their crops alive. The production of a tonne of wheat, for example, requires 50 tonnes of water.

 

Because it was almost impossible to control the population increase in the short term, Professor Beddington told the conference, other measures would need to be taken. “Agriculture has been doing pretty well against the population size but things are changing now and they are changing quite dramatically,” he said.

 

“Don’t we need to do something about food? Demand has grown enormously, particularly in China and India, where much of the driving force is increased demand. By 2030 energy demand is going to be up by 50 per cent and demand for food is going to be up by 50 per cent.”

 

The increase in demand has been reflected by the rapid rise in the prices of basic commodities, including wheat, over the past two years.

 

Biofuels have been put forward as a means of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions pumped out by fossil fuels but recent studies have questioned their impact when all factors, such as the use of fertilisers on the crops, are taken into account. Critics have been angered by the loss of tropical rainforests, which have been cleared to allow farmers to grow biofuel crops.

 

Deforestation has been calculated to account for about 18 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions and Professor Beddington said that to destroy rainforests in order to grow biofuel crops was “insane”.

 

He added: “Some of the biofuels are hopeless, in the sense that the idea that you cut down rainforest to actually grow biofuels seems profoundly stupid.”

 

He said that human ingenuity was extraordinary and he was confident that food production could be boosted, including by growing genetically modified crops.

 

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the World Food Program, told the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday: “The shift to biofuels production has diverted lands out of the food chain. Food prices such as palm oil in Africa are now set at fuel prices. It may be a bonanza for farmers – I hope it is true – but in the short term, the world’s poorest are hit hard.”

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23334652-30417,00.html

[Inedible]

Recently I read that switching to eating oats not only lowers your cholesterol, but because they aren't being used for bio-fuels, will save you money.

[suchandra]

 

Recently I read that switching to eating oats not only lowers your cholesterol, but because they aren't being used for bio-fuels, will save you money.

 

Yes, I heard eating oats makes one happy.

 

 

Oats is also rich in fibre, helping to lower blood cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease. If you’re looking to keep that beach body throughout winter, oats will go a long way. It stabilizes blood sugar and fat levels in the body due to low GI, which is great for diabetics and contributes to healthy weight loss. That is also why oats make you feel fuller for longer. A miracle? No, just the plain oat.

 

http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/dining_in/healthy_eating/301291.htm

 

[Kulapavana]

 

Scientists should be forced to admit that they don't know even how to properly fuel cars without polluting nature. Instead of telling farmers to produce wheat and other valuable nice vegetable they pay them for producing corn which is being turned with big effort into flammable liquid to power environmentally unfriendly combustion engines. Isn't this stupid? All birds, elelphants, horses convert energy very easily and have sufficient strength to properly work. But we advanced human beings have an oil problem to guarantee our mobility?

 

It is not really that simple. Yes, you can fuel a car without causing pollution, but are you willing to pay the price for such a car? Very few people are. Science merely serves the population in general. And there are many different forms of pollution not caused by science at all. You can go to rural areas in India to see how much "natural" pollution is there. Like people passing stool into rivers or canals, from which water is then used by other people. Look at the rate of disease caused by such practices.

 

The root cause of any pollution is ignorance and greed.

[suchandra]

 

It is not really that simple. Yes, you can fuel a car without causing pollution, but are you willing to pay the price for such a car? Very few people are. Science merely serves the population in general. And there are many different forms of pollution not caused by science at all. You can go to rural areas in India to see how much "natural" pollution is there. Like people passing stool into rivers or canals, from which water is then used by other people. Look at the rate of disease caused by such practices.

 

The root cause of any pollution is ignorance and greed.

Thoughts on bio-fuel by Kurma das (not the chef):

 

Demons Having a Field Day

BY: KURMA DASA

 

May 01, AUSTRALIA (SUN) —

One of the most sinful and disturbing occurrences at the present moment on this planet is the diversion of grains to the bio-fuel industry for the rich to keep their cars on the road, and the diversion of grains for feeding poor people which go to the meat eating and dairy industry. People around the world who are dependent on grains such as, maize, rice, etc., are on the brink of starvation, for the sake of the motor vehicle industry, and the meat eating industry.

 

The demons are running rife on the planet at the moment, and money is now more important than human life. Last week, twelve tons of cows were grilled in what the demons called, "

the biggest barbecue in the world

" in Uruguay.

 

Such a demoniac sacrificial display slaps right in the face of the Hare Krishna Movement and the worldwide movement of vegetarians. It also demonstrates very clearly to the poor that they are worthless in the eyes and hearts of these raksasas.

People gather around Uruguayan cooks who barbecue 12 tons of meat in an attempt to break a record for the world's largest barbecue in Montevideo, April 13, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Photo Gallery>>>

 

 

 

How can we relate such worldly problems to ISKCON?

 

We have around one hundred gurus within the society. Is this economical? Is there a better approach to this aspect of ISKCON? Or, what about the yearly cost for milk products and for vegetables that are purchased for the Society? Are plans in place now, to curtail this burden to the Society, by becoming less dependent on the demons?

 

There are a number of devotees around the world setting wonderful examples with cow protection and farming, such as Protect A Cow, etc. Why not invite representatives from these success stories to share their wisdom on the GBC?

 

Srila Prabhupada gave the warning, and now the time is

clearly

running out. ISKCON's leaders are clearly not listening, and this will effect us all!

 

Kurma das (not the chef)

 

[Kulapavana]

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Source: sundayherald</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD vAlign=top>Published: May 5, 2008 Author: Joanna Blythman</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD vAlign=top></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

<!-- -->How business starves the world’s poor

 

Joanna Blythman on the food crisis

 

THE SUMS just don't add up. There's a world food supply crisis, the cost of a basket of groceries has shot up by between 10% and 12.5%, yet our supermarkets are recording healthy profits - Tesco's profits last year, for instance, showed a 11.8% rise.

 

Meanwhile, farmers - the people who produce our food, say that they are being paid less than they were years ago. Many are selling meat and milk at below the cost of production. Their situation is pretty desperate. It's no coincidence the homepages of farming websites flag up the 24-hour helpline numbers for the Samaritans and the Farm Crisis Network. Suicide among farmers is at record rates.

 

When pressed by John Humphrys on the Today programme about what the government was doing to control soaring retail food prices, deputy prime minister Harriet Harman said that she "expects the supermarkets to play their part". Ominous words. Farmers will wince, because they understand the sub-text.

 

Subsequent administrations have given the nod to supermarkets to squeeze farmers on price in order to keep food inflation down and that pressure can only get worse. Asda Wal-Mart CEO, Andy Bond, recently said he intends to be "assertive" and "aggressive" with suppliers. Go right ahead Andy, but there won't be many farmers left.

 

So there's the mental arithmetic problem. If the farmer gets less, the consumer pays more and the supermarket makes more, where's all the profit in the food chain going?

 

An interesting insight into this murky maths was provided this week by EU agriculture commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel. She says that only about two-thirds of the rise in food prices we have seen in Europe can be attributed to increases in the cost of ingredients. "Energy, transport and labour costs have risen, but it is possible that somewhere along the food chain someone may be doing well out of this," she adds.

 

She has released figures showing that the cost of many grocery staples has gone up by more than the value of basic commodities used to make them. Bread, for example, increased 10% between February 2007 and 2008, but the near-doubling of the price of wheat should have led to only a 3% rise.

 

It seems our retailers are doing very nicely out of the global food crisis, thank you very much, and so are the global agri-business firms, traders and speculators currently raking in fabulous profits. Hungry people are out on the streets from Egypt to Haiti to protest at the rocketing cost of staples, yet Cargill, the world's biggest grain trader, has achieved an 86% increase in profits from commodity trading in the first quarter of this year alone. Meanwhile Bunge, another huge food trader, reported a 77% increase in profits during the last quarter of last year. ADM, the second largest grain trader in the world, registered a 67% increase in profits in 2007.

 

Farmers the world over yearn for stable, reliable prices for the food they produce. But stock market traders? My, how they love volatility. Buying and selling? It's how they make their money. That's why investment funds, escaping from sliding stock markets and the credit crunch, are having a bonanza on the commodity markets.

 

But while they have elevated food speculation to an art form, they are driving food out of reach of poor countries like Bangladesh, Cameroon and the Philippines.

 

In rich countries like ours, the rising cost of food is not yet critical. Certainly, our poorest citizens already feel the pinch. You can turn off the heater but you still have to eat, and a 60% increase in the cost of a bag of pasta is significant. But the worse scenario for most affluent people is hardly grave - less to spend on a handbag or new trainers, perhaps.

 

However, globally, the situation is acute. A new UN taskforce now warns that we face "an unprecedented challenge of global proportions that has become a crisis for the world's most vulnerable".

 

Head of the taskforce Sir John Holmes, has likened it to "a silent, rolling tsunami", more insidious even than the classic famines we have seen in countries such as Ethiopia. The UN World Food Programme estimates that recent food price rises mean an additional 100 million people can no longer afford to eat adequately.

 

The IMF and the World Bank pushed countries to dismantle all forms of protection for their local farmers and to open up their markets to global agribusiness and subsidised food from rich countries. Like chiselling snake oil salesmen, they said that a liberalised market would provide the most efficient system for producing and distributing food.

 

Some 70% of developing countries listened to them and changed from exporters of food into importers. Now they can't afford to buy food because traders' asking prices are too high.

 

Harvests blighted by climate change, combined with a soaring global population, make it ever harder for the planet to feed itself.

 

But when food is no longer just something that nourishes people and provides them with secure livelihoods, and becomes a commodity for corporate speculation and bargaining, then that task becomes impossible.