Today, I present a compendium of sadness and silliness from around the Food World. In the midst of warnings about global food shortages by mid-century and other mega-issues on the nutrition front, we’re told Brexit might starve Britain and Russia is destroying thousands of tons of food a year…
A Russian government bulldozer destroys seized illegal food imports
from countries that have imposed sanctions over Crimea.
The UK can’t feed itself without imports from Europe
If Brexit comes into force next January 1, with no trade agreements between the UK and the EU countries, there would be a major shortfall in the UK food supply by this time next year. Government figures show that the UK can only produce 60% of the food it needs to feed its population each year. That’s down from 74% in 1988, and the downward trend is continuing, according the the UK’s National Farmer’s Union (NFU).
NFU President Minette Batters told The Guardian newspaper: “The UK farming sector has the potential to be one of the most impacted sectors from a bad Brexit – a frictionless free trade deal with the EU and access to a reliable and competent workforce for farm businesses is critical to the future of the sector.”
Add to that the increase year over year in extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding, and the UK food supply is facing a precarious future, to say the least.
Russia destroys thousands of tons of food each year
In its relentless push back against international pressure over its foreign policy, the Russian government slapped a ban on imports of food from countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since 2015, in fact, some 26,000 tons of food has been seized at the border and physically destroyed.
According to The Moscow Times, “[C]ritics argued the food blacklists amounted to a “war on food” and evoked memories of Soviet-era famines.
Just how the seizure of food imports affects foreign suppliers of Meat, Dairy and Produce items is a mystery to me. It’s the Russian distributors and resellers who ordered the stuff in the first place who’ll get hurt, not the businesses or governments of the countries that sold the goods.
Poor Iranians suffering most under food shortages
Sanctions on Iran, the latest of which came into effect yesterday, have beaten down the value of the Rial, Iran’s base currency and caused the cost of living there to soar since the beginning of this year by 50% or more. Sanctions were imposed by the U.S. after President Donald Trump pulled his country out of a multi-nation Iranian nuclear non-proliferation deal earlier this year.
The Financial Times quoted one middle-aged Tehran shopper as blaming the government for rising costs and shortages: “God damn this regime and its corrupt rulers. They have sent their children to the U.S. and Canada while making us poorer every day.”
The food and consumer goods shortages are accompanied periodic water shortages and electricity outages.
And don’t forget all the starving people in Sub-Saharan and East Africa
Countries such as Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia have been struggling with drought and other issues for decades and, with global warming, their situation only gets worse by the year.
So, if you thought you had it tough with rising food prices and (where I live) soaring electricity and gas prices), think again. At least you don’t have to worry about food shortages and an increasingly uncertain food security future!
~ Maggie J.