.. but true to their liberal sensitivities they spend much more ink blaming America and American farmers before mentioning population growth.
You can read about it
here in the November 3 issue of the Guardian, an absurdly left wing British newspaper.
The headline:
Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite
Some quotes:
Empty shelves in Caracas. Food riots in West Bengal and Mexico. Warnings of hunger in Jamaica, Nepal, the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa. Soaring prices for basic foods are beginning to lead to political instability, with governments being forced to step in to artificially control the cost of bread, maize, rice and dairy products.
The price rises are a result of record oil prices, US farmers switching out of cereals to grow biofuel crops, extreme weather and growing demand from countries India and China, the UN said yesterday.
Last year, he said, US farmers distorted the world market for cereals by growing 14m tonnes, or 20% of the whole maize crop, for ethanol for vehicles. This took millions of hectares of land out of food production and nearly doubled the price of maize. Mr Bush this year called for steep rises in ethanol production as part of plans to reduce petrol demand by 20% by 2017.
Doubled the price of maize? Guess what, those cheap prices have been subsidized by American taxpayers for decades. If farmers can finally sell at break-even or barely profitably prices, that's wonderful news! If the world's population depends on American farmers receiving subsidies from American taxpayers, guess what- that can't last forever. The rest of the world needs to figure out how to lead sustainable lifestyles.
Only towards the end of the article does the writer concede:
The food crisis is being compounded by growing populations, extreme weather and ecological stress, according to a number of recent reports.
I would also like to add that biodiesel production doesn't take anything away from the food supply- the leftover mash from removing the oil is used to feed livestock.
As for ethanol, while corn is used as feed for livestock, it is terrible. It would be better to have cows out to pasture. Cows that are fed corn have to be injected with antibiotics in order to digest their feed. The only reason they are fed corn, is because a box of corn in a pen along with a daily injection of antiobiotics (and God knows what else) is a lot cheaper than a field used for pastures. Not exactly the most humane way to raise cattle, but that's what happens- because it's so friggin CHEAP!
