UN: World on Brink of Major Food Crisis

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK, via CommonDreams:




The world may be on the brink of a major new food crisis caused by environmental disasters and rampant market speculators, the UN was warned today at an emergency meeting on food price inflation.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meeting in Rome today was called last month after a heatwave and wildfires in Russia led to a draconian wheat export ban and food riots broke out in Mozambique, killing 13 people. But UN experts heard that pension and hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and large banks who speculate on commodity markets may also be responsible for inflation in food prices being seen across all continents.

In a new paper released this week, Olivier De Schutter, the UN's special rapporteur on food, says that the increases in price and the volatility of food commodities can only be explained by the emergence of a "speculative bubble" which he traces back to the early noughties.

"(Beginning in ) 2001, food commodities derivatives markets, and commodities indexes began to see an influx of non-traditional investors," De Schutter writes. "The reason for this was because other markets dried up one by one: the dotcoms vanished at the end of 2001, the stock market soon after, and the US housing market in August 2007. As each bubble burst, these large institutional investors moved into other markets, each traditionally considered more stable than the last. Strong similarities can be seen between the price behaviour of food commodities and other refuge values, such as gold."

He continues: "A significant contributory cause of the price spike (has been) speculation by institutional investors who did not have any expertise or interest in agricultural commodities, and who invested in commodities index funds or in order to hedge speculative bets." ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/24-4

[DJ13]

1. .... and rampant market speculators

Remember $150 oil?

Imagine the same criminals doing that to our food.

[indepat]

4. Suspect they are indeed doing that to our food

:yoiks:

[Ghost Dog]

8. This is the main point the UN's special rapporteur is making:

In a new paper released this week, Olivier De Schutter, the UN's special rapporteur on food, says that the increases in price and the volatility of food commodities can only be explained by the emergence of a "speculative bubble" which he traces back to the early noughties.

"2001, food commodities derivatives markets, and commodities indexes began to see an influx of non-traditional investors," De Schutter writes. "The reason for this was because other markets dried up one by one: the dotcoms vanished at the end of 2001, the stock market soon after, and the US housing market in August 2007. As each bubble burst, these large institutional investors moved into other markets, each traditionally considered more stable than the last. Strong similarities can be seen between the price behaviour of food commodities and other refuge values, such as gold."

He continues: "A significant contributory cause of the price spike speculation by institutional investors who did not have any expertise or interest in agricultural commodities, and who invested in commodities index funds or in order to hedge speculative bets."

/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/24/food-crisis-un-emergency-meeting-rome

Unfettered speculative financial capitalism revealed as outright cannibalism of wealthy on the poor.

[Ghost Dog]

9. dupe

[izquierdista]

2. Speculation doesn't change the market price

This is what speculators will tell you -- all while trying to corner the market so they can drive up the price.

[Mimosa]

3. Food speculators are the worst of capitalism

But over-population is what they depend upon.

[lovuian]

5. lets add the GMO dissappointing

results ...Famine

[NNN0LHI]

6. And at the same time the fields behind my house are full of corn to produce ethanol

Something isn't right.

Don

[kelly1mm]

7. I just saw a television ad for cat litter made from CORN! I was just

thinking that we are going to use land that could grow food for people not only for fuel now, but for growing corn for cats to crap on. I am sure it will be marketed as 'natural' even 'green'. Makes me sick.

[Hannah Bell]

10. when they're telling you "famine is coming!" while they're growing corn for cats to crap on, that

tells you something -- they're full of shit.

[Hannah Bell]

11. agreed. & if you read further, you find they're growing corn for kitty litter as well.

growing corn so pets can crap on it, nothing says "famine" like that.

[DCBob]

12. Famines are localized. caused by regional weather extremes or serious disease and pest infestations

There could be mountains of corn rotting in Illinois while people in the Africa are dying of starvation. It happens all the time.

[sendero]

13. Yes...

.. exactly, and nobody gives a shit until it happens in the "developed" world.

[DCBob]

14. Yes, that appears to be true too.

unfortunately.