A short while ago I was listening to the news on the radio and heard a report talking about food prices and how people are now paying about 20% more for beef. This is due to rising corn prices, which are making livestock more expensive. My immediate thought was “I won’t be affected, I don’t eat meat”. In fact that’s not true. Even though I won’t be paying higher meat prices, everything has a knock on effect.
I was reminded of this point today while reading a quarterly magazine, Végi-Info. While we may grumble about paying higher prices for food in general, the price increase is meaning that a large number of those in the 3rd World are going hungry everyday. In 2005 according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN) hunger and malnutrition kills nearly six million children each year. Yet more than enough food in the form of grains is being produced to feed everyone.
About 33 percent of global arable land is used to grow grain for animals. And this happens because there is a demand for meat. So maybe it’s time to decide to reduce meat consumption because of the price we’re paying at all levels of society.
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