Is the world running out of food? 22 May 06

Did you know that the world has been in food deficit for five out of the last six years? I would have thought that a fact like this would be ringing alarm bells in capitals around the world – but apparently not. The only coverage I’ve seen is in an Inter-Press Service news agency report at the end of last week.

A Reuters report today raises similar worries – floods in Central Europe and drought in France have cut forecasts for this year’s wheat harvest, “adding to tightening world supplies”. All in all, not a good time to be putting still further pressure on food stockpiles – which could soon be at a 25-year low – by developing biofuels which will burn edible food in cars.

None of this will come as news to Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, who warned two years ago that the world was approaching a food crunch. No-one listened. But now even the Canadian farmers’ union is getting worried. Perhaps this time we’d better take more notice.