Unless you are living in a bunker or under a rock, you have no doubt heard the news of rising food prices across Canada, but are rising food prices really a bad thing?
The rise in food prices are due to the volatile market of oil prices, which is tied to the Canadian loonie and the environmental issues of drought in food producing areas. The latter, however, has not been in much discussion in the news as of late.
In 1913, 20 pounds of potatoes cost 32 cents, which was the cheapest food in 1913 and an important staple, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States.
The average income in 1913 was $800/year for a household, which typically came from a single income.
In 2012 it was reported that household income was derived by 1.35 people (how that works I don't know) at $44,389. This means that the average wage increased by 4010 per cent (remember, inflation is a big player here).
The average conventional potato now cost an average of 62 cents per pound which means that an increase of 3819 per cent has occurred since 1913.
The all-mighty potato, with inflation in mind, has had an overall decrease in price over the years. This is in part due to cheap oil-derived fertilizers, pesticides and mechanization. What that has meant is that the farmer has had to use the "go big or go home" philosophy from Earl Butz, the secretary of agriculture under the Nixon presidency to survive the falling prices and cover their increasing costs.
One thing not discussed in the BLS data is that a much larger percentage of the population was directly involved in agriculture in 1913, either by farming or homesteading, meaning that a lot of people had their own potatoes and the demand was not as high.
What all this data concludes is that our standard of living has gone up and we spend less on food than we used to. This decrease in food pricing and increase in the standard of living is only anecdotal as now we spend much more money on diet related illnesses and the clean-up of water ways from fertilizer and pesticide runoff (we still haven't put pricing on the environment that sustains us all yet).
When food prices increase in developed countries, the economically less privileged are hit the hardest as they cannot change their spending as easily as wealthier citizens can change their spending habits, as the wealthy have more disposable income.
In Canada (a nation of importers of food), market volatility can hit without warning and have dire consequences to the underprivileged.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), importing countries are at most risk to the rise in food prices.
Higher food prices (red meat prices in particular) can have unintended consequences to already depleted fish stocks in the ocean as fish is typically a cheaper source of animal protein that many turn to when the price squeeze begins to take hold of household finances.
The high meat prices have also spurred the new trend of pulses for 2016.
Pulses, also known as legumes such as peas, lentils and beans, are a great source of protein and have a relatively low carbon footprint in comparison to many other sources of protein. They even increase the nitrogen levels in the soil by a symbiotic relationship with a fungus. How cool is that, a plant that supplies the ground with fertilizer?
One way to help decrease the vulnerability of one's food security is to support local farms.
If you don't support a local farm they don't exist and you are left to rely on imports and the global speculation on oil prices. Remember these statements are coming from a biased organic farmer, so you can make your own decisions on how you want to decrease your own vulnerability. Just know that if you eat, and I am sure you do, someone has to grow it for you and there is a lot of things that can happen in between the 7,000 km or more that your food has to travel before it gets to your table. Conflict in oil producing countries can also add to the price increase.
Many are already making the switch to local food, not only for the taste of freshness but also because finally local small farms can compete with big box store prices, which more often than not contain food that has been subsidized through tax dollars to create an artificially low price.
The question for the week is "Is it time for a national food policy yet?"
