BlogHer - Food Crisis: Being more thankful, more thoughtful and less wasteful - Comments

Quite unique, no?

snigdhasen — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:06:13 -0500

BlogHer is run by some really smart women here, and I am happy to be part of this family :)

Good to see you here, Raj. Yes, indeed, this is a serious crisis. But I am hoping this will spur the world community to action.

Sixty years of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan in India has achieved precious little for our farmers. Indian agriculture needs to get top priority in the country's agenda.

Food, I guess, is entering a new phase in the modern era.

This is a serious crisis

An alien earthling — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:20:27 -0500

Thanks, Snigdha. BlogHer is quite different from the other blogging platforms!

I agree with your analysis of the crisis. Just a few hours ago, I watched a news report that mentioned food prices are going to be high for about a decade. The less said about fuel, the better!

Poor countries in Africa are the worst hit, but the situation in Haiti is terrible.

The poor people in India are also feeling the pinch. And the prices of automotive and cooking fuels is going to be increased in a few days time, which is sadly going to set off another round of spiralling inflation.

Raj

Of course!

snigdhasen — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:05:05 -0500

Hi Raj, welcome to BlogHer. Yes, indeed, we are all women bloggers, writing about women's issues AND issues that women are discussing or blogging about.

All issues -- from politics to world peace to raising children to gardening -- are discussed here.

If these issues interest you, you are more than welcome to comment here :)

Snigdha

Hi!

An alien earthling — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:24:20 -0500

Am I allowed to post comments here, Snigdha? This site seems to be reserved for women!

Raj

Thanks for the India update

snigdhasen — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:29:20 -0500

Nita, prices have been going up in the U.S.,too. As President Bush said (as quoted in this Rediff article), food is available here, but is getting expensive. Here's a clip from that article.

He said there
are two aspects of rising food prices -- its effect on US citizens and
the fact that there is a food scarcity in the world.

"We
don't have a scarcity issue in America...We got a price issue. Our
shelves aren't going empty, it's just costing more money," Bush said.

Regarding India, I guess the government's (internationally unpopular) decision to curb exports has relieved the domestic market. But yes, as usual, it's the poor who are hit first and always.

(P.S. You "beat" me many more times, Nita. The good news is, we don't mind that, do we? ;)

This time I guess you beat

Nitajk — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:06:41 -0500

This time I guess you beat me to it. I was mulling over a post on this but procrastinated. I don't know if I will because I haven't even started on it. But this subject has been on my mind. I have been wondering how it is in the west, whether people there are suffering. The way Bush and Rice were talking, one would have thought that American is in dire straits! Looks like consumers are not feeling the pinch yet but the country as a whole is.

Over here in India things are peaceful. No one is raising a ruckus. Only political parties screaming murder because of inflation. The ration card system and subsidized grains is what keeps the poor going but yes, they are feeling the pinch now. Fruits and vegetables are very expensive and beyond their reach most of the time.

Nita

Amen to that

snigdhasen — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:46:06 -0500

Elizabeth, can't agree more about recyling and composting!

Our previous apartment owner was obsessive about reclying, and we were more than happy to oblige (I think his dream was to some day not have a regular garbage bin at all!).

When we moved, we had some reclying in our new apartment, but within a week, we had more bins for more things. Friends tease us that recyling follows us where we go :)

We don't have composting, though. I'm going to look around and see if the city has any such project.

[When I was growing up in India, we actually got paid to reclycle! We could sell paper, tins, plastic bottols etc by weight per kilo. I believe my dad still does it. I hope this practice in India doesn't die out. Mom uses organic waste for her garden. Nothing fancy. She just digs a pit and puts all the organic waste there. Over time, nature turns it into fertile soil :) ].

Good luck with the gardening!

Snigdha

Snigdha, I've seen photos of

ejm — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:19:35 -0500

Snigdha, I've seen photos of Kalyn's raised beds and am quite envious of her fabulous garden.

The difficulty I have is that we have a very small area that gets
almost sufficient sun for vegetable growing. Still I think I may try a tiny
area. My sister has suggested potato growing in our front garden -
saying there is little likelihood of theft and that the potatoes can be
stored in the basement over the winter.

Kalyn, some neighbourhoods have a parking strip (boulevard) but ours does not. We have a rather large silver maple taking up most of our tiny front garden but there might just be an area at the side that I could usurp.

But even aside from growing our own food, if there was some way that we could encourage all of us to be conscious of what we are putting into our fridges and onto our tables, but most importantly, what we are needlessly putting into our garbage cans.

I find it quite sad that there are apartments that disallow composting. This just doesn't make sense. A compost bin doesn't have to attract vermin.

One really great thing that Toronto has started to do recently is to collect garbage in two containers. We all have "green" bins. All wet garbage goes into them and the contents of the "green" bins are turned into compost that is distributed in local parks one day a year to the various communities. Our neighbourhood "environment day" was a couple of weekends ago and we managed to pick up a few bags of city compost.

If this kind of recycling were standard in all communities, wouldn't it be fantastic?

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

There you go!

snigdhasen — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:40:34 -0500

Thanks to you, Kalyn :)

I think you do such a fabulous job with food. The fact the you are growing food, consuming food and curbing waste in a conscious manner, is JUST GREAT!

The problem is, when we have plenty, we can't (don't?) get ourselves to make an effort to be careful and respectful of what we have. I think it's human nature, unfortunately.

@ Elizabeth (EJM), Kalyn will be a fine fine guide to help you start growing food. How cool!

Snigdha

Great post!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:57:23 -0500

Such an important topic, and something that makes we worry that my life is entirely too frivolous as I search out little specialty ingredients to make a certain dish taste just perfect. But I do grow a lot of my own food (a good place to start if possible) and I'm always trying to be conscious about not wasting food (truly a challenge for a food blogger who's mostly cooking for one or two people.)

I'm glad you were able to find some food bloggers talking about the topic.

EJM, a few people in my neighborhood grow food on the small strip between the sidewalk and curb (it's called the parking strip here, about 5 feet wide.) I don't know if people steal the food, although I kind of doubt it, it's pretty visible.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Food for thought...

snigdhasen — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:32:16 -0500

Elizabeth, thank you for stopping by.

The fact that you have thought this through so well is inspiring, really!

I am guilty, too, of wastage. Everytime I do it -- shop too much or store badly -- I remind myself of how my father saved or consumed every morsel of food, even though we were never short of it. That's probably becuase he lived through the War as a child --- when India was still under the British and was steeped in poverty -- and saw how bad it could get.

Do we need a food war to make us start thinking?

I think composting is a great idea, and a good way to manage waste. And if you can use that compost in your own vegetable garden, wouldn't that be perfect?
My current apartment doesn't allow for either, so I have to make a conscious effort not to waste.

I think fear of failure is real, Elizabeth. Maybe you can start small? And if you grow too much, you can always give it away to neighbours :)

BlogHer's GreenLAGirl and Debra Roby have written about growing food in homes. They have great details and links in their posts. I'm sure they are the right people to start with :)

Good luck and may you enjoy the fruits of your labor soon!

What we can do

ejm — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:20:51 -0500

Excellent and sobering article. ...it is pretty disgraceful how prodigal we are.

I like your idea to stop wasting food. I know I'm as guilty as anyone
in this regard. And I have been glibly claiming that every rotted
vegetable I remove from the "crisper" drawer of the fridge and put into
our composter isn't wasted - because it's being returned to the soil.

I'm starting to think more seriously about the idea of switching from grass in the front garden to vegetables. But here are my reasons for reluctance to go ahead with this notion:

Fear that passersby and/or creatures will steal the fruits of my labour.
Fear that we will grow too much for our household.
Fear of failure.

Isn't that sad? To let fear stop me.

Does anyone have experience with front yard gardening? And links to canning advice.

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

P.S. $3,000 (??!) for 12 classes in how to return to a simpler set of food choices, like not eating anything that "wouldn’t grow in the ground." (excerpt from the article at The Cleaner Plate Club) Better to send that $3,000 to an aid program!

Food Crisis: Being more thankful, more thoughtful and less wasteful

snigdhasen — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:03:53 -0500

[Updated to add Mad Momma's wonderful post on ways to curb wastage].

A couple weeks back, news about limited rice exports from India gave my husband and I -- both raised on rice-heavy diets -- pause. We briefly mulled over the idea of buying an extra bag of rice just in case, but then let it slide.

Last week, our weekly groceries bill leaped from an average of $40-$60 to $90+. Whoa! What did we just buy?

Or is it the food crisis that we hear about? So it's here?

It has been here for a while, except that Americans have been, to some measure, insulated from the "silent tsunami" that has been consuming countries in Asia and Africa. As Newsweek reports, the massive American food supply chain -- that includes processors, distributors are retailers -- is absorbing most of the rise in costs, so consumers aren't burning a hole in their pockets yet. Meaning, my new, increased grocery bill is, for now, more of "an inconvenience than a dire threat".

It was, however, a recent statement made by President Bush on the food crisis -- that sparked off a controversy in India --- which forced me take a closer look at a situation that is yet to take food off my table, but is grave, nevertheless.

More about the controversy later.*

First, the crisis. The situation is dire in many parts of the world. Prices of commodities have sky-rocketed and foot riots have been reported from several countries. To get a sense of the situation, here are a couple snippets from The Economist's special report:

The Silent Tsunami

For the first time in 30 years, food protests are erupting in many places at once. Bangladesh is in turmoil [...]; even China is worried [...] Elsewhere, the food crisis of 2008 will test the assertion of Amartya Sen, an Indian economist, that famines do not happen in democracies.

Famine traditionally means mass starvation. The measures of today's crisis are misery and malnutrition. The middle classes in poor countries are giving up health care and cutting out meat so they can eat three meals a day. The middling poor, those on $2 a day, are pulling children from school and cutting back on vegetables so they can still afford rice. Those on $1 a day are cutting back on meat, vegetables and one or two meals, so they can afford one bowl. The desperate—those on 50 cents a day—face disaster.
[...]
Rich countries need to take the food problems as seriously as they take the credit crunch.

The new face of hunger

In Haiti, protesters chanting “We're hungry” forced the prime minister to resign; 24 people were killed in riots in Cameroon; Egypt's president ordered the army to start baking bread; the Philippines made hoarding rice punishable by life imprisonment. [...]

Last year wheat prices rose 77% and rice 16% [...]. These were some of the sharpest rises in food prices ever. But this year the speed of change has accelerated. Since January, rice prices have soared 141%; the price of one variety of wheat shot up 25% in a day.

How did this come to pass? The reasons are many and complicated. I have tried to filter out the root causes for the mess -- to make this digestible for readers and for my own sanity [Information sources are linked to or listed at the end]:

Rise in fuel prices have had a trickle-down effect on all commodities. Modern agriculture is fuel-intensive, hence production costs have gone up.
The production and supply of grains have not been able to keep up with the rate of population and economic growth.
An increase in demand (and prices) usually sees an increase in supply. But grains can't be grown overnight. The response is seasonal and hence slow.
To counter the energy crisis, countries such as the U.S. have diverted chunks of grains toward biofuels, leaving less grains for human consumption. Corn-based ethanol is taking the rap.
A large amount of grains get diverted to feeding livestock, demand for which is also increasing.
We -- India included -- were smug in the belief that we had enough food to feed all (those who could pay). We have systematically neglected the agricultural sector.
Stock-piling and hoarding in fear of a deeper crisis has pushed up prices.
Nature has had its say in the matter, too. Global warming has led to uncertain weather patterns. Australia, for example, is suffering its sixth year of drought.

Now what?

This may be a good time to mention "the controversy" over Bush's remarks in India -- It gives an indication of how serious and emotional the food crisis has became.

*The controversy: As inflation skyrockets, India -- the second largest producer of rice behind China -- started curbing exports. It blamed the U.S. for diverting grains away from humans to biofuels. Bush recently argued that ethanol cultivation was not the main driver of food prices, and that greater demand for food from India and China were partly responsible:

"Worldwide, there is increasing demand. There turns out to be prosperity in developing world, which is good. It's going to be good for you because you'll be selling products in the countries, you know, big countries perhaps, and it's hard to sell products into countries that aren't prosperous. In other words, the more prosperous the world is, the more opportunity there is," the US President said.

"It also, however, increases demand. So, for example, just as an interesting thought for you, there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population."

"And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up," he said.

Bush also listed change in weather patterns and increase in basic costs like that of energy as factors contributing to higher food prices.

"No question that ethanol has had a part of it. But I simply do not subscribe to the notion that it is the main cost driver for your food going up," Bush said.

India went ballistic. Politicians lambasted Bush for suggesting the India's rising middle class had anything to do with the food crisis. Newspapers yanked out data to prove how America's per capita consumption was five times more than India's. Bush's statement has attracted much scorn and ridicule.

Rising demand for more and nutritious food from developing nations is without a doubt a contributing factor. So what ticked off India?

The devil, as they say, is in the details: I think Bush would be safe if he stopped at saying there's a rise in demand for food. But comparing India's middle class to America's total population is where he messed up -- how can the biggest consumers of pretty much everything in the world point an accusing finger at a much poorer people who consume much less per head, a good number of who are either vegetarian or don't eat one kind of meat or the other?

Second, at a time of crisis, the world will probably be better served if we looked at reasons and solutions that are actionable. Rising food demand from a growing and more prosperous population cannot be avoided, but indiscriminate use of food grains or arable land for biofuels can.

That brings me to the question: What can American consumers, yet to see a food riot, do to help?

While economists and food experts want us all to refocus our energies on making agriculture more productive, rethinking international commodities trade policies, and research further on what grains should be used for biofuels, we can help contribute individually. According to the Newsweek report, "...[O]verall, consumer food prices were up 4.4 percent between March 2007 and March 2008. Yes, bread and milk have spiked (up 14.7 percent and 13.3 percent in the past year, respectively), but fruits and vegetables were up just 1.7 percent in the same time period."

It's not that bad here, so this may be the time to act. Of course, you can donate to the World Food Program to ease the short-term pain. But why not try the harder, nobler and smarter thing to do: curb waste.

We waste food: sometimes they rot in the refrigerator, sometimes we just throw it out because we don't like it, sometimes we eat more than we need, and sometimes (the worst) we jump into or throw around food on reality shows just for fun.

Yes, when we have plenty, we take things for granted. But now we don't. The world doesn't. Can we not tweak our habits just a bit?

Wasting food is criminal when people across the world are killing each other for a morsel. Roop Rai recounts one such wasteful experience at Banalities of my life:

Even despite such a crisis, I see people here in US, in UK, and even in Canada disregarding food. It's disheartening. I had a few friends come over to our house in UK for a get-together for a friend's birthday. I cooked dinner. Everyone took a plateful, said they loved the food, and threw half of it out. I might've doubted my cooking abilities if they didn't go for second servings half an hour later. This time again, all of them took a plateful, ate what they could, and threw the rest out. I couldn't help but wonder at such nonchalance.

As Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations' special Rapporteur on the right to food, says: "The days of cheap food are over."

It may be time to count our blessings and cut back on the waste. Thanks to our very own Kalyn Denny, I found bloghers who are talking about talking about crisis and food management. I have added some "Bushism" posts by Indian bloghers to the list :)

Mad Momma - Fighting the Food Crisis

The Real Potato

Veggie Might

The Cleaner Plate Club

A Lucid Spoonful

Can cook, must cook

The [ex]Expatriate's Kitchen on "Bushism"

Think of Bush before you eat

Other resources (apart from the ones I have linked to above):

Global Food Crisis (Washington Post)

The Food Chain (NYT)

Food prices and protest -- Taking the strain (Economist.com)

ASIA: Food Crisis Adds to Women’s Burden (IPSNEWS.NET)

Interview with MS Swaminathan, one of the brains behind India's Green Revolution (Rediff)

Why have rice prices surged to record highs? (Mint)

The Cost of Food: Facts & Figures (BBC)

Demand key factor in price rise (WSJ)

Rising Food Prices: What should be done? (International Food Policy Research Institute)