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How expensive is food, really?

There is no doubt whatsoever that rising food costs are hurting people all over the world. More than half of the world's population spends 50 percent of their income or more on food, and the massive rise in staple prices threatens to increase famine rates drastically. We are already seeing the early signs of this in Haiti and in other poor nations.

It is also undoubtedly true that rising food prices are digging into the budgets of average people, including me. And I've got it easy. The 35 million Americans who are food insecure (that is, they may or may not go hungry in any given month, but they aren't sure there's going to be food) are increasingly stretched. Supportive resources like food pantries are increasingly tapped. And regular folks are finding that food and energy inflation are cutting into their budgets substantially. The rises in food and energy prices alone have eroded real wages by 1.2 percent. The USDA chief economist has announced that overall food prices will probably rise by another 3 to 4 percent this year, and grain products will rise considerably more.

But there's another side to this coin. Rising food prices are, to some extent, good for farmers. Certainly, large grain farmers in the U.S., Canada, and many other rich nations have been experiencing a well deserved boom. And there are plenty of people, myself included, who have been arguing for years that we don't pay enough of the true costs of our food. Who is right? How do you balance the merits and demerits of food prices?

Sharon Astyk Politics

A roundup of news snippets

• Students win contest with vehicle achieving a jawdropping 2,843 miles per gallon. • Governors will come together to discuss climate this week. • World Bank is worried about food prices. • Canadian officials seize the ship of seal-hunt protesters. • Bangladesh faces a climate refugee crisis.

Grist staff Uncategorized

Big urban parks sprouting across the U.S.

Four major cities are poised to create urban parks several times bigger than New York’s iconic Central Park, itself a not-at-all-shabby 843 acres. In Orange County, Calif., a portion of a former air station will become a 1,347-acre park; in Memphis, a 4,500-acre former prison farm has been snatched from developers by a conservation easement; […]

Grist staff Cities

Eco-conscious gizmos for the enviro to lust after

Dedicated enviros shun consumption, and for good reason. But some consumer items aren’t all bad, and might even (gasp!) be good, particularly if they replace more harmful products or encourage greener living. We’ve rounded up 10 gadgets that a loyal greenie can covet in good conscience. Bike Friday This kick-ass bicycle doesn’t just fold up […]

Grist staff Culture

Analysis: Bush announcement attempt to subvert action

As David mentioned, The Washington Times reported today that "President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include." However, "it is not clear exactly what Mr. Bush will propose." Although this announcement comes as we head into the Earth Day weekend, Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino claimed it's just a coincidence.

Stephen Dinan writes that Bush and conservatives are now focusing on the possibility that "runaway" global warming legislation will cause a "disaster" and a "nightmare." Asked about The Washington Times story, Dana Perino warned today of a "regulatory train wreck with many different laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act."

Perino all but admitted this leaked announcement is a "trial balloon" to try out new conservative talking points. When she was asked when the Bush plan would be released:

It could be never.

Watch it:

Brad Johnson Politics

Taking care of rural coal workers

This WSJ piece on the battle over coal in rural (and important electoral swing) states is frustrating. On one hand, you have enviros, characterized as urbanites concerned exclusively with global warming. On the other hand, you have rural residents, characterized as concerned exclusively with keeping their mining jobs. Why is there no mention of the […]

David Roberts Technology

Link between climate change and stronger hurricanes becomes fuzzier

Climate change may not in fact make hurricanes more frequent and intense, says new research published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. While other climate models have reached similar conclusions, this study is notable for having as its lead author atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel, who was one of the first to suggest a […]

Grist staff Climate & Energy

and other things I learned at Hahvahd

I just spent a couple of days at a journalists’ forum at Harvard whose topic was climate change and cities. The basic premise being that — as our Mayor Nickels and his climate-fighting compatriots well know — cities contribute a hell of a lot of carbon to the world, but are also in the best […]

Katharine Wroth Culture

Ausra

Via Deathridesahorse, here’s a video of Ausra (“utility-scale solar power”) CEO David Mills explaining Ausra’s solar thermal technology: