The Recent Global Food Crisis - Essay Example

? The Recent Global Food Crisis and Obesity Epidemic The Recent Global Food Crisis and Obesity Epidemic It is evident that populations around the world are starkly staring at a food crisis that has picked momentum especially since 2008. This recent global food crisis has placed staple grains, the main sustenance for populations around the world, out of reach of the hundreds of millions of people in need of them. This has seen its effects being felt in both developed and developing countries (Magdoff, 2006: 1-7). This study will focus its attention on the explanation about this recent food crisis, how it reflects previous agri-food system tendencies and its relationship to diabetes, another food system problem. The thesis of this study is that the explanations behind the recent food crisis revolve around commercial (corporate-dependent) model of the global food system which makes food items vulnerable to market dynamics and hence out of reach for many individuals. This is relevant to the issue of food crisis since it attaches an economics perspective to the crisis which is especially significant given the recent global economic meltdown. Theoretical Perspective A closer and detailed look at the recent food crisis reveals a number of patterns and insights that can be supported by theoretical perspectives to show that it is a consequence of the established food policy. First of all, the food crisis does not necessarily stem from low production since the advent of chemical and biological technology in food production makes the processes more optimized. Instead, it is due to shifting economic and political power throughout the stages of food production and distribution. Emphasis is being placed on food production and distribution in terms of where maximum profitability will be achieved. This can be seen in situations where bumper harvests have been accompanied by hunger, and the fact that subsistence food producers have not at all benefitted from sky-rocketing food prices. Several authors have laid the ground on this theoretical perspective. To begin with, Magdoff (2008: 1) points out that lack of production is not the reason for the recent food crisis as evidenced by the case of the USA where hunger is common even when the country enjoys surplus production besides the wastage and misallocation of food supplies in developing countries in the midst of a food crisis. He argues that the underlying cause to the food crisis is poverty among the populations in a global economy that celebrates production for profit hence food items are just like other market commodities. The capitalist system has ensured that although few people die from hunger, most survive in malnourishment. Most of the food crisis causes that Magdoff (2008: 3-5) provides point to the capitalist system in which profitability is the goal; rise in petroleum prices hence diversion of grains to biofuel purposes without considering their position as staple foods; use of grains to feed and fatten animals to cash into the rising demand for meat; and finally, speculation and hoarding in the food market. Lang (2010: 87-97) weighs in the issue of the recent food crisis, arguing that the emphasis on increased food production to counter food crises has always been unsuccessful since there are other dimensions to the food issues. This includes market distortions and access. Lang observes that economic power on food has shifted from the land to the retailers whose consequence has been mass production and the accompanied marketing of food items in a similar fashion to all other market items. Lang’s theoretical framework is centered upon the evolution of a strong retailer in food issues, effectively delinking producers from consumers, shaping consumer tastes, deciding distribution and technology for production and flexible specialization in food production. Koc (2009: 323-335) contributes his perspective on the food crisis issue concurring that economics plays an pivotal role as it is the backbone of current global food system. Establishment of capitalism accompanied by shifts in power among the societal strata is to blame for the food situation that results in crisis. Koc explains a duo-pronged scenario behind the food crisis. These are: protectionist tendencies revolving around monocultures, just-in-time production, niche products, flexible specialization, marketing and profit-informed distribution among others. Secondly, there is the shift in power from the nation-state to corporate enhanced by multinationals and trade and financial organizations which result in wrestling of control of the agri-food sector from the diffuse non-corporate world to few corporate ventures. Moreira (2010: 134-148) also augments the role of economic perspective in food production and distribution in the context of globalization. Moreira explains that a commodity systems model in light of globalization has resulted in competitive advantage going to transnational corporate ventures. This gives them remarkable political and economic leverage power creating oligopolies in the food chain, especially in distribution and retail. Evidence of the Corporate-dependent Food Model Role in the Recent Food Crisis The previous section highlights the central role that corporate inclination in the food system has played in maintaining situations of hunger independent of volume of production as exhibited by mass production, globalization and other processes. To build upon this theoretical perspective, empirical evidence in a historical context needs to be generated. The first empirical piece of evidence is drawn from Cooke and Robles (2009: 3-31) who conducted a time series empirical approach from 2002-2009 to investigate changes in food item prices and relationship to the explanations given to the recent food crisis. From their month to month quantitative analysis, the researchers make striking findings that discount half-truths and exaggerations about the food crisis. For example, the prices of soybeans during the period of investigation fell with increasing oil prices. They provide extensive data on production, demand and prices, indicating that food shortages were not due to decreased production. The prevailing evidence from empirical analysis is that financial activity in future markets and speculation heavily contributed to the food price changes that drove the recent food crisis. This directly backs the theoretical basis of this study that the food sector has undergone commodification into a market item like any other product under the current global food system. Heady, Maliyandi and Fan (2009: 2-3) support the view that shift in the use of corn to bio-fuel was a primary cause of the recent food crisis that peaked in 2008. In the USA, a reaction to the pre-2008 oil price spikes was the emphasis on biofuels, which then led to corn consumption for biofuels rising to a hugely significant 30% of the total production. In 2005-2007, biofuels accounted for 60% shift in demand on global grains produced with nearly 90% of this being due to the USA alone. The consequence of this is not only shortage of grains for human consumption but also increased prices, especially when taking into consideration that grains are the staple food for millions of individuals around the world. Baltzer, Hansen and Lind (2008: 1-34) first reckoned that the recent food crisis was not as a result of shortage of food production but was instead a consequence of restricted access resulting from high prices that weed out majority of consumers who cannot keep up with market forces. It is not also not an isolated case since similar patterns can be observed previously especially during the 1974 food crisis to which several similarities can be drawn all pointing at market forces precipitating a food crisis. This confirms the theoretical bearing of this study. The researchers deduced that global production of cereals has been increasing at about 26 million tons annually. Besides, the total grain production expressed per population gives impressive 2809 calories per person pre-2008 hence the problem is essentially in distribution and access. The data analyzed supports the view that production is sufficient. This problem occurs at the point of distribution where few but strong retailers decide where the produced grain will head. The figures analyzed indicate increased use of grains in animal feeding which supports the view that retailers channel grains to reap from the populations in emerging economies which are shifting towards meat consumption. Heady and Fan’s (2008: 3-34) study at the height of the recent food crisis explored several themes that point to a situation in which the various explanations behind the food crisis bore different weight in its causation. The factors for the crisis were also to a large extent interrelated but all point to economic considerations playing the central role. They analyzed data on grain prices in a historical context (1960-2008) and weighed the contribution of productivity, weather, demand, hoarding, speculation, interest rates, stocks and biofuel demands. Their study established that productivity and demand were not significant players in the crisis since the implicated countries were largely self-sufficient. However, diversion grain production to biofuels and depreciation of major currencies were found to be key contributors to the crisis. Moreover, it was observed that the rising food prices were not accompanied by improved economic fortunes amongst the producers especially the small scale ones. This indicates the shift in power from producers to corporate retailers. The Recent Food Crisis and Obesity In an interesting twist, data from the CDC indicate that besides suffering economically, the small subsistence farmers from the southern states in the USA are also the ones experiencing what are traditionally considered lifestyle diseases such as obesity. As of 2008, nearly 30% of southerners were obese; startling figures considering that large populations in these states are relatively poorer. Warwick (2010: 103) observes that this is happening while still the southern states are prime agricultural hubs in the USA. He explains that this strange scenario is due to a shift towards mass production and corporatization that has made it easier for whole foods to be grown and transferred to the affluent Northern markets while at the same time making them precious and unaffordable for the home residents. The result is that unhealthy foods are now more accessible and affordable to the poor while the healthy ones are out of their reach, pointing the finger back to the corporate effect on the food system currently in place. Conclusion The evidence provided herein serves to back up the theoretical perspectives given to the effect that a corporate-dependent system in the agri-food sector precipitated the global food crisis which is the thesis of this study. This demonstrated through empirical evidence indicating that production of grain is actually sufficient, but then gets diverted to other uses such as biofuel production and feeding animals to meet the rising consumption of meat. This places the blame squarely on the retailers who happen to be strong corporate entities resulting from capitalistic inclination. A strange phenomenon is observed where southern states in the USA are experiencing higher rates of obesity, which is still linked to corporatization of the food system. The limitations of this research center on the fact that it did not seek information from the corporate world which could perhaps give perspectives from the other side of the coin. References Baltzer, K., Hansen, H., & Lind, K. M. (2008). A note on the causes and consequences of the rapidly increasing international food prices. Institute of Food and Resource Economics, Denmark. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://www.mvo.nl/Portals/0/duurzaamheid/biobrandstoffen/nieuws/2008/11/International_food_prices.pdf Cooke, B., & Robles, M. (2009). Recent food prices movements: A time series analysis. IFPRI, 00942, 1-35. Heady, D. & Fan, S. (2008). Anatomy of a crisis: The causes and consequences of surging food prices. IFPRI, 00831, 1-31. Headey, D., Malaiyandi, S., & Fan, S. (2009). Navigating the perfect storm reflections on the food, energy, and financial crises. International Food and Policy Research Institute: Discussion Paper, 00889, 1-24. Koc, M. (2009). Hunger and plenty: Fragmented integration in the global food system. Handbook of Contemporary Sociology, 323-335. Lang, T. (2010). Crisis? What crisis? The normality of the current food crisis. Journal of Agrarian Change,10(1), 87–97. Magdoff, A. (2008). The world food crisis: Sources and solutions. Monthly Review, 1-15. Moreira, M. B. (2011). Changes in food chains in the context of globalization. International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture & Food, 18(2), 134–148. Sabin, W. (2010). The rich get thinner, the poor get fatter: Is fresh, local food becoming a luxury item? Oxford American. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/mar/08/rich-get-thinner-poor-get-fatter/ Appendix Figure A1: Food prices during the recent global food crisis. Source: FAO World Situation Website; Cited in Baltzer, Hansen, and Lind, 2008 Figure A2: Proportion of grain consumed by fuel production over the years in the USA (%) Source: Baltzer, Hansen, and Lind, 2008. 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