Questions We Wish the Debates Had Asked: Food Inflation

In Haiti, food prices have risen drastically in the past year. The prices of rice, beans and fruit-- key staples of the traditional Haitian diet-- are up by more than 50 percent. Ordinary citizens of Haiti, finding themselves suddenly unable to afford food for their children, have been rioting in the streets, and Haiti's government has been overthrown.

In Egypt, bread has recently become so scarce in Cairo that it is now being sold behind barricaded walls. And in the Philippines, government officials are urging citizens to stay calm as farmers warn that rice prices could soon rise another 40 percent.

Early last year in Mexico, when corn flour prices rose 400 percent, causing the cost of the tortillas Mexican families consider a daily staple to skyrocket, angry citizens took to the streets to march in protest, carrying ears of corn. And in 2007 in India, riots broke out in Western Bengal over misdirected food subsidies for the poor.

Could such devastating food inflation happen here in the United States? As anyone paying attention at the grocery store knows, it's already begun.

Traditionally, the United States has enjoyed relatively low food prices compared to other areas of the world. In fact, for decades, household expenditures on food as a percentage of income had been dropping in the U.S., even as costs for other essentials, like healthcare, housing and education, were on the rise.

But that's changing. Over the last year alone, milk prices in the United States have risen 26 percent. Egg prices have risen 40 percent. The scarcity of wheat worldwide has caused record high wheat prices, which would be why that box of macaroni and cheese that cost you one dollar last year now costs a buck fifty, and why restaurants around the country are raising their prices for bagels, sandwiches and cakes.

What's driving these increased food prices here in the United States, and around the world?

Well, there is no single answer. But experts point to several major contributing factors.

With technological advances and cultural changes leading to increased economic prosperity in populous countries such as India and China, global demand for high-end food products, such as dairy products and meat, has been rising.

Simultaneously, an increase in droughts and unpredictable weather patterns-- problems many scientists have linked to global climate change-- have caused unexpected crop failures in countries around the world. And decreasing biodiversity has left many staple crops more vulnerable to disease.

The rising cost of fuel means that the cost of transporting food-- bringing corn, rice and wheat from farmland to urban population centers; bringing Chilean fruit to North American grocery stores so U.S. residents can have grapes in mid-winter; and bringing grain from the fertile Midwestern breadbasket to feed drought-stricken Australia-- has also risen, and that, too, has contributed to food price inflation.

And here in the U.S., as farmers tear out fields of wheat and oats to plant acres upon acres of golden corn, not to feed people or animals, but instead to be turned into ethanol, hungry stomachs are suddenly competing with empty fuel tanks for grain.

So what do Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama plan to do to avert a looming food inflation crisis?

Apparently, not much.

Both Clinton and Obama have supported, and continue to support, the continued use of corn for ethanol, despite recent studies that show burning corn ethanol might actually be worse for the environment than burning gasoline.

Although both Obama and Clinton have admitted in interviews that they are aware of the problems associated with using corn ethanol as a replacement for fossil fuels, both continue to support legislation that encourages farmers to grow corn for the purposes of making ethanol. Their reasoning?

In a March 2006 interview with the environmental news and commentary website Grist.org, Barack Obama said:

I think cellulosic ethanol is probably our best short-term solution. The amount of energy required to produce cellulosic ethanol is a significant improvement over corn-based ethanol. The technology exists. We don't have to change distribution systems; essentially it pumps just like gasoline. It only costs $100 to retrofit any vehicle out there. And if Brazil can do it in the span of three or four years, while cutting their transportation-gasoline use essentially in half, there's no reason we can't do it.

So I guess my answer would be: This is an important series of first steps that moves us in the right direction. It is not sufficient to create a sustainable, long-term energy strategy, but it'll be a component of it.

And in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer in February of 2008, Hillary Clinton said:

I think the increase in the energy prices generally have contributed to food inflation, although you're absolutely right that, you know, the rising cost of corn and soybeans, which are--you know, ubiquitous in our food supply, have certainly, you know, contributed significantly. But we're in a transition period. We need an energy policy that does focus on home grown energy. And that has to be a broad-based set of energy alternatives. You know, ethanol from corn is not the most efficient way to produce it, but it's what we're doing now as we move towards cellulosic, as we look at how we're going to, you know, incentivize wind and solar, and you know, I think we should be looking much more at new forms of energy for our cars.

Both Clinton and Obama claim their interest in supporting corn ethanol is driven by an idea that promoting corn ethanol is a "first step" to promoting the development of more environmentally-friendly biofuels that would have less of an impact on the global food supply, such as the much-touted holy grail of ethanols, cellulosic ethanol.

Mass production of cellulosic ethanol, which can be made from ordinary, fast-growing wild grasses, agricultural waste, and even scrap wood, would theoretically not require farmers to convert land currently used for growing food crops. But scientists have yet to develop a truly efficient way of extracting cellulosic ethanol in quantities great enough for mass public consumption as a transportation fuel.

The problem with Clinton's and Obama's argument here is that production of corn ethanol does not actually contribute to technological developments that will help increase the efficiency of cellulosic ethanol extraction; corn ethanol is produced in a different way than cellulosic ethanol. So to argue that higher production of corn ethanol is a step toward large-scale production of cellulosic ethanol is really rather fallacious. If the Senators really wanted to support cellulosic ethanol, in theory, instead of vowing to continue corn ethanol subsidies, they would vow to move the tax dollars currently being spent to promote corn ethanol production into research and development for less environmentally costly biofuels.

However, as this native Midwesterner is acutely aware, such a realistic stance would almost certainly displease many corn farmers, especially big agribusiness corn farmers, who have benefited from high demand for corn.

What about the other factors contributing to the global food inflation crisis, such as global climate change, rising fuel costs, and rising demand for food around the world?

Well, as I mentioned here before, Al Gore isn't particularly pleased with either candidate's plan to stop global warming, and seems to be on the fence as to whose plan is better, but he thinks both Democrats, and even John McCain, would bring much better environmental policies to the White House than the current administration.

One thing that I would suggest the next President do to help alleviate global food scarcity in the face of higher demand would be to work with other countries to help educate local farmers about ways to increase biodiversity, hedge against natural disasters, and use environmentally friendly methods such as companion planting and crop rotation to increase crop yields. But I wasn't able to find any statements from either Clinton or Obama regarding such an initiative. (Please let me know here in the comments if you find such a statement!)

And of course, a good, simple way for average Americans to help alleviate price pressure from fuel costs, lower demand for costly imported foods, and support sustainable farming would be to buy more produce locally, through CSAs or farmer's markets. Planting a backyard vegetable garden, and learning basic food preservation skills like canning and dehydrating, might also be a good way for the average family to reduce their dependence on foreign food.

But I haven't seen either Democratic candidate coming out with a public awareness and education campaign to teach citizens how best to support local farmers, or how to grow and store their own food. And I am not sure why. After all, it's been done before. And good ideas are one of the easiest things to recycle.

Jaelithe also worries a lot about really scary stuff at The State of Discontent.

Photo from USDA.

Comments

[jen]

J,
This is a fantastic post. A must read for all of us.

[Rachel]

I'm glad you wrote this post, because I think this problem has the potential to wreak havoc all over the world. Hungry people overthrow governments.

I think a big part of the problem is the way our electoral system is set up. The candidates all spent a lot of time in Iowa leading up to the caucuses, and so they had to pander to the farmers by supporting farm subsidies (which discourage people in other countries from growing their own food) and biofuels.

Maybe if we had a rotating primary schedule, our policies would be more balanced.

[Lauren]

Awesome post!

[Glennia]

My husband just returned from Japan, where this information is all over the news. Here? Not so much. Thank you so much for posting this informative and well-researched information.

[jaelithe]

Being a Midwesterner, I understand that a lot of farmers literally depend on farm subsidies right now to make living, but I feel like there has to be a better way to support farmers than paying them to turn corn into fuel. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the subsidies get gobbled up by big agribusiness instead of small farmers.

That's why I'm trying to shop more at my local farmers' markets for produce. More of the profit goes directly to the farmers that way. (And the produce is fresher. And I know where my food is coming from.)

[Jo MacD]

I know one thing for sure - you don't have to worry about feeding us drought-stricken Australians any more - it's absolutely bucketing down here right now, and has been for about a week :)
But seriously, a really thoughtful, informative, inspiring post. I'm fired up to plant some vegies, if it stops raining for long enough.

[jaelithe]

Jo MacD-- Heh. No doubt Australia will be feeding drought-stricken Americans any day now.

[Kady]

Why does Clinton support ethanol? Could it be because of her husband's investments?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983477/posts

hmmm...

[Katey]

There are several farmers markets/produce stands very close to where I live. I love shopping at them - the prices are better, the food is fresher, and my state of mind doesn't suffer. This year, my son got a bug up his rear and just insisted on planting a garden of veggies in the backyard. So as we speak, I've got tomatos, green beans and sugar snap peas to look forward to this summer.

The most striking thing to me about the "sound bite" that you used from Hillary, is that she says the words "you know" at least five times. This is not unusual for her to do, and it pretty much drives me banana crap. Seriously, why doesn't she just kick it up one more notch to full blown valley girl? Then she could start her response to every debate question with "Like, OH MA GAWD." The transformation of HRC during this primary season has been unbelievable and indigestible, to say the least.

[Andrea]

This quote from Bush in that first article you linked to in the “it’s already begun” set of links: ""They cite inflation?" Bush asked, adding that, "I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism."

Way to dismiss the concerns of the American people, G-dub. God, what an arrogant ass. Not everything is about your preshus war.

Do you read The Cleaner Plate Club? http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/ The writer, Ali, gives tons of information about how to act more locally to eat better, get off the high fructose corn syrup and our vast dependence on corn, find local CSAs and Farmer’s Markets. She also links to relevant articles and provides yummy recipes for healthier eating. For awhile, she was posting on the canning process and other methods of food storage, and in general, she’s a healthy local food coop local farmer helping guru of all things nutritious with a little Martha Stewart thrown in, though she’s far more accessible in that she’ll admit when it’s not perfect or if the pictures of her kitchen show an actual mess. She is very inspiring to me in my own endeavors to eat better/healthier/more locally.

Thanks for the article, J. Again, you hit one out of the park with all your research and effort. Maybe you should storm a news set and force them to put something on the air about this. Or Twitter it.

[cynematic]

Jaelithe,
Excellent, nutrient-packed post, so unlike the junk news overly available elsewhere!

Great cogent thinking from you. And I like the info you found on celullosic ethanol. We really need to hear from the candidates on these.