Documented - Research Paper Example

This situation is in sharp contrast to the denizens of rich states like  America who not only have more then enough food for their consumption but waste a great deal of it too. Many reasons have been give to explain away the food crisis some of which include weather conditions, increased demand attributable to an ever increasing population and for many speculation on food commodities has contributed to fluctuating prices which have nothing to do with real demand or supply of the commodity. For example the present Pope expressed his anger over food speculation which he feels is responsible for the food crisis.

Also contributing to the crisis are serious concerns over the food supply. Over the past few years bumper crops meant that farmers had been getting underpaid for their product due to the overwhelming supply. Because of this problem many farmers decided to switch from food production to utilizing the land for something else. For example in India a major controversy was generated by the utilization of land for production of bio-fuels which were offering higher returns to farmers and resulting in higher export earnings, however this bio-fuel production carried with it the opportunity cost of lost food production.

Food demand has been increasing in demand one because of the population growth specifically in developing nations and also increasing disposable incomes. It will become a matter of more and more concern to ensure that food production and distribution is designed to match this population expansion and that no communities or countries fall through the cracks. The impact of side-lining this issue and ignoring the impact that it can have on domestic and eventually global, political and economic scenarios is a potentially dangerous one.

As the draft document developed by a high level task force setup to resolve the global food crisis explains ‘High food prices are estimated to be driving over