[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)