Rising Food Prices

Recently rising food prices have been in the news (see end of this post).    Political events, climate change have all taken their toll on food prices,  affecting both developing and developed countries.    Back in 2009, the Dietitans of Canada Cost of Eating Report stated….”Food and shelter costs have increased significantly over the past decade.”   More and more people are starting to pay attention as they see the political unrest that results and the rising prices on staples and  their favourite foods like chocolate (Leeder, J.  “Savour that chocolate while you can still afford it.” Globe and Mail, Feb 11, 2011) and that all important coffee (“Coffee prices rising, Starbucks warns.” CBC News, Jan 27, 2011).

Getting involved with growing your own food, connecting with local farmers, creating root cellars, joining food buying clubs and increasing your food preservation knowledge and skills are all solid strategies that help offset the rising cost of food as well as increase your access to healthy, safe, affordable foods.

As a community kitchen coordinator you may also want to give your boss the heads up that your food budget line needs to be increased. For back up, I encourage you to share any of the links/articles below gathered by Shona Lam, Fresh Choice’s research librarian.

My mom often tells me that we are going back in time to a society that will darn socks instead of throwing them away once they get holes in them; that people will relearn how to cut a whole chicken up instead of buying skinned, boneless chicken pieces; and that people in BC will go back to eating more cabbage than they ever thought imaginable!

Sounds okay to me – I love cabbage although I have never darned a pair of socks in my life. Better learn soon….

As a community kitchen leader, how are rising food prices affecting your program and your participants?   What are you doing to alleviate the increased cost of food for your community kitchen? Please share you thoughts and comments on this blog.

If you know of more articles/websites regarding rising food prices – share them with us!

Links:

• Babad, M.  “Food prices projected to rise by 5% in Canada this year” Globe and Mail, Tues, Feb 1, 2011

• Foresight.  “The Future of Food and Farming:  Challenges & Choices for Global Sustainability.  Final Project Report“  Government office for Science, London (UK)

(this is report was recently referred to in Globe and Mail article:   Leeder, J.   “Political reform of food system called for amid worsening price crisis”, Globe and Mail, Tues, Jan 25, 2011)

• World Bank Food’s Food Price Watch Report, Feb 2011.

World Food Bank also has a website dedicated to the topic of the Food Crisis.

• Dysite. J.  Soaring Food Prices Hit Poor Countries, Spur Farmers.  NPR: National Public Radio, Feb 27, 2011

• Parker, J.  Crisis Prevention – What is causing food prices to soar and what can be done about it? The Economist, Feb 24, 2011

• The 9 billion-people question.  A special report on feeding the world. The Economist, Feb 24, 2011