You may have heard talk about the global food shortages on the news recently. It seems that we may soon feel the effects here in Syria soon also. Already the prices of bread products have increased slightly but there could be much more to come.
Gas and flour are subsidized by the government here and kept at extremely low prices. There really are the essentials, flat bread is the staple for all meals, and during the cold winter months people use diesel to heat their homes. Dropping these subsidies would help reduce Syria’s deficit but it will definitely be the poorest who will suffer. To say that it is a food shortage is a bit deceptive. It is just that the food is no longer within the financial means for many people to obtain. Even if the price of bread increases by one dollar, I would still buy bread, I have the dollar to spare. However, for the poorest people, the majority of their income goes to survival. The higher the prices are for food, the more grave their situation becomes to provide for their families.
Our cities are expanding taking up land that used to be farmland and populations are growing. Not only do we have more mouths to feed on less land but we are also diverting land for food production and food itself to be used for bio-fuels. I remember when we were last in Mexico, I was reading a paper that said that one of the first acts that President Calderon did when he took office was to try to stabilize the price of tortillas. It struck me because it sounded a bit silly at first; then again, I have never gone hungry because I cannot afford to buy food anymore. Some big companies such as Bimbo, a large Central American producer, went out of business in Mexico because it was impossible for them to reach the price.
Throughout the Central American region, corn tortillas are the staple food item. For many poor families, a corn tortilla with some salt may be the only thing that they can afford to eat. Corn is great for tortillas but can also be used to make ethanol. So now, our cars will run a bit cleaner, but now the price of corn to make their daily tortillas is out of reach. Sure, it is also great for the farmers in America’s breadbasket. They will be reaping great financial benefits from their harvest but I do think it is important to consider what impact our desire to be greener will have on the world’s poor.
Energy aside, there will be an immediate need for the already vulnerable people in the world. Hopefully there will be some alternative sources of renewable energy that will not affect the food supply of the world. For now though, many people may be going hungry tonight because of rising food prices. Even organizations that are normally there to assist these people are being affected, the World Food Program’s budget is no longer sufficient to reach all of the people who desperately need aid.
I have no idea what will happen in the long run. There are some of the best minds in the world working on this issue for years I’m sure. Nevertheless, day after day, word on the streets is that times are tough and everyone seems to expect even worse to come.
