Monday 23 May 2022

Give Us Our Daily Bread?

Ukraine normally exports 9% of the planet's grain. Blockading its ports, stops flour reaching dependent countries. The price of wheat is currently 59% higher than was the case in January. Some people will starve. The Ukraine war is a clear illustration of just how easy it is to produce global food chain collapse (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/22/food-crisis-is-what-happens-when-global-chains-collapse-we-might-need-to-get-used-to-it). Once, globalisation appeared to ensure that food supplies would be plentiful (and relatively cheap?), at least, in developed parts of the world. This interconnected system seems, however, quite fragile. We might need to get used to food crises. Food and water have always had the potential to be used as weapons.

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