Price of Food
Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:08 pm
Topic: Price of Food
Model United Nations
Work Session: Feburary 3
Resolutions Debating: Feburary 17
The next topic on our plate is one that is very pertinent to many people in the world. Our recent economic troubles may have slightly mitigated inflation in some parts of the world, but the gradual rise in the price of food has put a huge strain on those already struggling to survive. As the United Nations, we must find solutions towards stabilizing the price of food and making sure that everyone in the world will be able to afford sustenance. Discuss here.
Price of Food Topic BriefFood is one of the only things on the planet that people want but actually need in order to survive and continue to create and prosper. Without a Playstation, people are not entertained. Without access to religious holy sites, people may feel spiritually down. Without an appropriate amount of food, however, people grow sick and die. The American Food and Drug Administration’s basic assumption is that a healthy person needs about 2000 calories a day. If there are 6.77 billion people in the world, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau, this adds up to 13.54 trillion calories a day needed to keep every person alive. And this is factoring in numbers for the average, somewhat sedentary America- other people who engage in more manual labor will have very different needs for optimal health. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a guiding document for the United Nations, says that, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food.” Even if this were not the case, it goes against the rational self-interest of a nation to allow for food insecurity. The world’s population is growing, estimated to go up to 9 billion people within 40 years. The situation is hardly perfect now, with people, especially children, constantly dying of starvation and malnutrition. The world needs to find new ways to feed its population.
The principles of supply and demand say that the more of a product is available and the less people want it, the more the price goes down, and vice versa. When there is a large enough potential market, however, prices should go down anyway. This is because a the creator of a product will see the potential profits available in the mass market and try to make the product cheaper because of it. The spread of the automobile is one such example. Food has shown to be another, as in the example of fast food restaurants which can offer a lot of food for a little and still grow wealthy. The only effective solution to a lack of affordable food, at least in the short run, is the production of more food.
One potential method of accelerating food production would be to increase the use of genetically modified foods. GM foods are genetically altered for superior characteristics. These could include enhanced nutrition, greater resistance to the elements, and faster growing seasons. Theoretically, this could lead to the average human needing less food, increased production of food, or both. However, this is not a perfect system. Despite the already widespread proliferation of GM foods, they are still an imperfect solution. Doubts remain about the safety and environmental effects of these foods, especially in Europe and environmental organizations like Greenpeace. These doubts are valid concerns and must be overcome for GM foods to receive the necessary market or governmental support to spread their use.
Other methods could involve nongovernmental organizations providing for practices to increase farmer capacity. The Israeli developmental system turned a once-barren desert into an often-vibrant country with the span of 60 years. Access to proper water supplies could help farmers grow more crops, especially in currently dry areas. NGOs might also take steps to educate farming communities about sanitation and agricultural practices, in order to provide for more community health and increased productive capacity. It is telling that according to Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions (third edition), by Michael L McKinney,and Robert M Schoch, the world produces 130% of the food it currently needs. However, 40% of it is lost due to destruction, spoiling, rotting, etc. Better agricultural practices and infrastructure could allow crops to be gathered and distributed faster, avoiding this 40% loss. The problem with this is that certain countries may not allow NGOs to operate there, especially in places like Sudan, Myanmar, and other places with starving populaces and hostile or indifferent governments.
Other solutions involve economic measures directly from governments. In places where there are production limits to control prices, these could potentially be abolished. Price controls on food could also be set. However, while this would allow for more cheap food to enter the market, it might also drive farmers out of business due to low revenue. Also, cheap food may be bought up by richer nations who can already afford it and aren’t the primary focus of this issue.
Hydroponics, the technology of growing plants indoors in a nutrient-rich solution to replace soil, could potentially gain ground one day as a way to raise food, especially in urban and water-deficient areas. However, the technology isn’t at the capacity to feed the masses at the moment.
In the meantime, nations may want to maximize the resources they have on hand or attempt to change the national diet. This could be accomplished by rationing food or putting in individual or national quotas, or promoting a lifestyle such as vegetarianism, since it takes a lot more time, land, and energy to grow beef than soy beans. To flip that idea, of course, you could repeal laws against factory farming to give more people access to meat, while opening up more animals for hunting and fishing or legalizing whaling. While commercial whaling is officially illegal according to international law, the Japanese use it as a common food anyway. In June the chair of the International Whaling Commission actually suggested the moratorium be lifted. It remains to be seen what will occur.
In the end, the issue of the price of food has long-range implications for every nature in the future, as the population is growing and all people need food to survive. A solution to high prices will most likely involve maximizing the food supply so supply and demand will do its part. This can be done through government action, infrastructure, promotion of the rule of law and not destructive warfare, and opening up and development of new food sources. However it’s done, it is clear that this is a crucial issue for many starving people in the world.
References
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8119843.stm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... -1,00.html
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/H ... food.shtml
http://ag.arizona.edu/PLS/faculty/MERLE.html
Model United Nations
Work Session: Feburary 3
Resolutions Debating: Feburary 17
The next topic on our plate is one that is very pertinent to many people in the world. Our recent economic troubles may have slightly mitigated inflation in some parts of the world, but the gradual rise in the price of food has put a huge strain on those already struggling to survive. As the United Nations, we must find solutions towards stabilizing the price of food and making sure that everyone in the world will be able to afford sustenance. Discuss here.
Price of Food Topic BriefFood is one of the only things on the planet that people want but actually need in order to survive and continue to create and prosper. Without a Playstation, people are not entertained. Without access to religious holy sites, people may feel spiritually down. Without an appropriate amount of food, however, people grow sick and die. The American Food and Drug Administration’s basic assumption is that a healthy person needs about 2000 calories a day. If there are 6.77 billion people in the world, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau, this adds up to 13.54 trillion calories a day needed to keep every person alive. And this is factoring in numbers for the average, somewhat sedentary America- other people who engage in more manual labor will have very different needs for optimal health. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a guiding document for the United Nations, says that, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food.” Even if this were not the case, it goes against the rational self-interest of a nation to allow for food insecurity. The world’s population is growing, estimated to go up to 9 billion people within 40 years. The situation is hardly perfect now, with people, especially children, constantly dying of starvation and malnutrition. The world needs to find new ways to feed its population.
The principles of supply and demand say that the more of a product is available and the less people want it, the more the price goes down, and vice versa. When there is a large enough potential market, however, prices should go down anyway. This is because a the creator of a product will see the potential profits available in the mass market and try to make the product cheaper because of it. The spread of the automobile is one such example. Food has shown to be another, as in the example of fast food restaurants which can offer a lot of food for a little and still grow wealthy. The only effective solution to a lack of affordable food, at least in the short run, is the production of more food.
One potential method of accelerating food production would be to increase the use of genetically modified foods. GM foods are genetically altered for superior characteristics. These could include enhanced nutrition, greater resistance to the elements, and faster growing seasons. Theoretically, this could lead to the average human needing less food, increased production of food, or both. However, this is not a perfect system. Despite the already widespread proliferation of GM foods, they are still an imperfect solution. Doubts remain about the safety and environmental effects of these foods, especially in Europe and environmental organizations like Greenpeace. These doubts are valid concerns and must be overcome for GM foods to receive the necessary market or governmental support to spread their use.
Other methods could involve nongovernmental organizations providing for practices to increase farmer capacity. The Israeli developmental system turned a once-barren desert into an often-vibrant country with the span of 60 years. Access to proper water supplies could help farmers grow more crops, especially in currently dry areas. NGOs might also take steps to educate farming communities about sanitation and agricultural practices, in order to provide for more community health and increased productive capacity. It is telling that according to Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions (third edition), by Michael L McKinney,and Robert M Schoch, the world produces 130% of the food it currently needs. However, 40% of it is lost due to destruction, spoiling, rotting, etc. Better agricultural practices and infrastructure could allow crops to be gathered and distributed faster, avoiding this 40% loss. The problem with this is that certain countries may not allow NGOs to operate there, especially in places like Sudan, Myanmar, and other places with starving populaces and hostile or indifferent governments.
Other solutions involve economic measures directly from governments. In places where there are production limits to control prices, these could potentially be abolished. Price controls on food could also be set. However, while this would allow for more cheap food to enter the market, it might also drive farmers out of business due to low revenue. Also, cheap food may be bought up by richer nations who can already afford it and aren’t the primary focus of this issue.
Hydroponics, the technology of growing plants indoors in a nutrient-rich solution to replace soil, could potentially gain ground one day as a way to raise food, especially in urban and water-deficient areas. However, the technology isn’t at the capacity to feed the masses at the moment.
In the meantime, nations may want to maximize the resources they have on hand or attempt to change the national diet. This could be accomplished by rationing food or putting in individual or national quotas, or promoting a lifestyle such as vegetarianism, since it takes a lot more time, land, and energy to grow beef than soy beans. To flip that idea, of course, you could repeal laws against factory farming to give more people access to meat, while opening up more animals for hunting and fishing or legalizing whaling. While commercial whaling is officially illegal according to international law, the Japanese use it as a common food anyway. In June the chair of the International Whaling Commission actually suggested the moratorium be lifted. It remains to be seen what will occur.
In the end, the issue of the price of food has long-range implications for every nature in the future, as the population is growing and all people need food to survive. A solution to high prices will most likely involve maximizing the food supply so supply and demand will do its part. This can be done through government action, infrastructure, promotion of the rule of law and not destructive warfare, and opening up and development of new food sources. However it’s done, it is clear that this is a crucial issue for many starving people in the world.
References
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8119843.stm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... -1,00.html
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/H ... food.shtml
http://ag.arizona.edu/PLS/faculty/MERLE.html