Friday, January 25, 2008

Hungry Planet - Threat to Global Food Supply

Food prices are skyrocketing. Arable land is becoming scarce. And forests continue to disappear across the globe. The world must decide between affordable food and biofuels

At the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which began on January 23, the world's elites have identified the scarcity of agricultural commodities as a critical global risk. "The world's food production system," say the forum's organizers, "is about to face a true test." The United Nations has already warned that food shortages could lead to unrest in some countries. In Mexico, for example, tens of thousands of people took to the streets a year ago to protest the explosion in the price of corn meal, a staple of the Mexican diet. This "tortilla crisis" signaled the beginning of the distribution battles the planet is about to face - struggles over the most productive farmland, the most favorable supply contracts and the best seed… To read more at SPIEGEL INTERNATIONAL