Food for thought

Vanguard October 2012 p. 8
Bill F.

The United States’ corn harvest has been hit by the worst drought in 50 years, with yields down by nearly 50%, and prices up 60% since June. 

This will have enormous consequences across the world, as the US is a major exporter of corn, accounting for 38% of global trade, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Corn is relatively cheap to grow and has many uses, as staple food, as stock feed, and as additive to other processed foods, fast foods and pharmaceuticals. The prices of other staple foods will also go up. The production of animal products, such as meat, poultry, eggs, milk and cheese depends on cheap cornmeal and corn products.

In the undeveloped countries, especially those suffering from the IMF ‘structural adjustment’ programs and forced to grow cash crops such as coffee and palm oil rather than food crops, imported corn is an essential source of food. It is a primary staple in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in much of Central and South America.

Bio-fuelling the crisis

Now even corn has become a cash crop, with Mexico and other countries exporting their corn to the United States for use as bio-fuel to run American automobiles. Almost 13% of global corn production goes to the US for conversion to biofuels. This year, some 37% of harvest will be put aside for ethanol production. This won’t leave much for the hungry millions relying on the ‘generosity’ of US imperialism.

The years 2007 and 2009 saw the outbreak of food riots in Africa, South America and parts of Asia. This is likely to occur again, but on a larger scale.

Shenggen Fan, Director-General of The International Food Policy Research Institute (US based) was quoted in Bloomberg as saying that a global crisis could “hit us very soon”, and that using corn for ethanol in automobiles needed to be halted. “That actually pushed global food prices higher and many poor people, particularly women and children, have suffered.”

The suffering of people means little to the profit hungry automobile and biofuel industries, major contributors to the crisis of climate warming that has intensified extreme weather events across the globe, including the current US drought.