Image via WikipediaAs I relax during my early morning commute to work I began reading a summary of the UN's Food and Agriculture Agency report that states its food price index has risen almost two points above the record set in 2008 and now stands at 215 points. This dire situation has contributed to food riots in countries such as Cameroon, Bangladesh, Haiti and Somalia. Industry analysts attribute food price increases to poor harvests in Russia, Canada and the Ukraine, a drought in Argentina and recent floods in Australia. Climate change has wreaked havoc on the global food supply chain to the disadvantage of consumers in emergent economies for whom food comprises a larger proportion of their household budget.
In light of this scenario European plans to increase the use of Bio-fuels will require the reallocation worldwide of 69000 square kilometers of land; an area more than twice the size of Belgium removed from vital food production. Europe's audacious plan hopes to provide 9.5% of its transport fuel by 2020 of which 90% will be derived from food crops. NGO research indicates that this initiative may prove harmful to the environment in long run by increasing greenhouse gas emissions by an extra 26 - 56 million tonnes annually which is estimated as the equivalent to having 12 -26 million automobiles on European motorways by 2020. The economic question of our decade is not guns or butter but biofuel or butter...
Writing about food makes me hungry I guess I'll just step out to a Tesco Express for a sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate... how convenient.. It might be a cold sandwich but at least the bread is buttered...
In light of this scenario European plans to increase the use of Bio-fuels will require the reallocation worldwide of 69000 square kilometers of land; an area more than twice the size of Belgium removed from vital food production. Europe's audacious plan hopes to provide 9.5% of its transport fuel by 2020 of which 90% will be derived from food crops. NGO research indicates that this initiative may prove harmful to the environment in long run by increasing greenhouse gas emissions by an extra 26 - 56 million tonnes annually which is estimated as the equivalent to having 12 -26 million automobiles on European motorways by 2020. The economic question of our decade is not guns or butter but biofuel or butter...
Writing about food makes me hungry I guess I'll just step out to a Tesco Express for a sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate... how convenient.. It might be a cold sandwich but at least the bread is buttered...
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