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Rising food prices - 10/6/2008 5:38:39 PM
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AdrianaS
Posts: 1229
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Global food crises
10/06/08
"The media sensationalises the impact of high food prices with images of hunger and civil unrest in far-flung places like Port-Au-Prince and Cairo.
But these images miss the point. The world needs more food and less poverty. In a market economy, higher prices provide the incentive to produce more."
" Only a small part of today’s demand for food is due to population growth, despite the fact that 90m people are being added to our planet every year. The bigger impact is felt from the rapid income growth in our $60-trillion global economy. Much of this growth today is in poor but populous countries, like China and India. As they become richer, they eat more food. A “chicken in every pot” is a realistic dream for billions of the world’s new middle class.
To produce this chicken demands an ever-increasing stream of feed-grains. The three drivers of demand for food—population growth, income growth and the shifting pattern of consumption towards meat—suggest that food output might need to be doubled in the next 30 years. This is the demand story."
"The good news is that higher food prices are exactly what is required to restore balance in the market. With rising demand and constrained supply the iron law of economics permits no other response. In a market economy, when demand exceeds supply, prices rise. Higher prices discourage consumption, but they also encourage more investment and enhance production."
"It is surely true that high food prices will cause hardship to many. The suffering of those in Cairo, Haiti and much of Africa is real. The spectre of hunger is ugly. That cannot be denied and should not be forgotten. Nor should we leap to the conclusion that food prices at today’s levels are here to stay. But for the majority of the world’s poor, to be found among the 1.7 billion rural residents of India, China and Indonesia, the dream of a “chicken in every pot” is becoming more attainable because world food supply is rising again. That is the upside for humanity from today’s high food prices."
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RE: Rising food prices - 10/7/2008 4:53:52 AM
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aslouie
Posts: 629
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
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I guess this reminds me of this prospective thread I want to prop up here, specializing in the Christian view of economics, or whatever theory works best here (i.e. the methods of John Maynard Keyes, or Milton Friedman), especially with the global food crisis.
But in commenting this issue, I too am reminded of how the biofuel craze (hint: allocating agricultural lands and crop for fuel-INefficient ethanol--not to mention its unintended, counter-productive results to the environment!), and the rising price of oil, much of which is blamed by:
A) oil speculators in the industry... or...
B) OPEC, for (allegedly) deliberately setting up artificial prices for fuel that could actually be cheaper than advertised, via slowing down oil production...
or C) some of the unintended consequences of environmentalist policies, like not allowing more (offshore) drilling, or certain forms of pragmatic alternative, eco-friendly energies... like nuclear power(!), though that will also beg the tangent question if the environmentalist-inspired technology today, may actually allow more environmentally-friendly oil drilling and nuclear power. Maybe I should jump start a stand alone thread concerning the latter! 
_____________________________
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RE: Rising food prices - 10/8/2008 3:23:13 AM
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galadriel2
Posts: 263
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I know little to nothing about economics, but it seems to me with the gas prices plummeting due to the 'credit crunch' and 'Wall Street' blues - that this will work to bring food prices way down as well - so this will help the poor immensely - not so much the rich - but definitely the poor. Isn't that who the Lord tends to take special notice of anyway? 'The Lord supports the afflicted' (Ps. 147:6a)
God bless abundantly,
Galadriel
< Message edited by galadriel2 -- 10/8/2008 3:32:28 AM >
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RE: Rising food prices - 10/8/2008 3:29:09 AM
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galadriel2
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So...with 'higher food prices discouraging consumption' and restoring 'balance in the market' we Christians have REALLY MET THE NEEDS of the starving poor of the world!!!!!
God bless - in Christ please,
Galadriel
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RE: Rising food prices - 10/10/2008 6:15:48 PM
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AdrianaS
Posts: 1229
Joined: 3/21/2007
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Wow..and nation wise..
The cities Food Banks that already saw steady increase for a while now is seeing more and more new people on the lines for help...they are struggling to keep with the demand..asking for donations all over.
Local church ministriy that used to feed 50 families are now trying to help 500.
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