UN/food prices

[pledm]

UN secretary-general calls food price rise a global crisis

VIENNA, Austria - A sharp rise in food prices has developed into a global crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Ban said the U.N and all members of the international community were very concerned and immediate action was needed.

He spoke to reporters at U.N. offices in Austria, where he was meeting with the nation's top leaders for talks on how the United Nations and European Union can forge closer ties.

"This steeply rising price of food — it has developed into a real global crisis," Ban said, adding that the World Food Program has made an urgent appeal for additional $755 million.

"The United Nations is very much concerned, as (are) all other members of the international community," Ban said. "We must take immediate action in a concerted way."

Ban urged leaders of the international community to sit down together on an "urgent basis" to discuss how to improve economic distribution systems and promote the production of agricultural products.

An estimated 40 percent increase in food prices since last year has sparked violent protests in the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.

On Thursday, U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization chief Jacques Diouf said immediate efforts should focus on helping farmers in developing countries grow more crops.

Josette Sheeran, the World Food Program's executive director, has likened the price increases to a "silent tsunami," and said requests for food aid are coming in from countries unable to cope with the rising prices.

She noted that the price of rice has more than doubled since March. The World Bank estimates that food prices have increased by 83 percent in three years.


Right now it sounds funny,I say this because Wal-Mart has now limited the rice you can buy,but other countries are having a war about the prices of rice/grain.
It reminds me of the movie Soylent Green,the panic for food.
But prices are increasing and for panic in North America because of the media is just amazing.

What do you think.

[Summer]

I think that the price of gas is affecting the price of food. I think that we are headed for a depression like the one we had in the '30's myself. I hope that it doesn't get that bad though.

[Bob]

Food needs to be cheap. And you are partly right Debbie about a higher cost of fuel contributing to the raised food prices since transporting the products will cost more, but that argument is only valid for countries where a lot of transport takes place. Like America. And it would only affect the food price marginally - not 40 percent or more, like in the third world. So I don't think the price of gas is to blame.

The only people I ever hear complaining about the price of gas is Americans. In a country where the infrastructure is partly built on the model where people NEED several cars per family, and where people cannot get to work or school without driving, it is amazing that no one forms a political party that has a plan to reform the model with added environmental benefits. Wouldn't it be in everyone's interest to not have to spend a fortune on gas every month? The entire country was planned real stupid. Can't someone make a public transport net that WORKS? In another hundred years there won't be any more petroleum. What are you gonna do then?

Besides that, gas is double that price where I live. And I think it is damn good. It fucks up nature.

[Summer]

I agree with our country needing much more public tranportation systems. I wouldn't own a car if the bus came to my house, because cars are just too expensive! We pay a fortune for car insurance every month, and the gas too! I think between those two bills we spend about $850 per month! Trust me I would much rather ride a bus or a train! We can barely afford to drive anymore!