Victoria's Green Matters - 27th Jan 2011

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

There can be many reasons for an increase in the price of food; there are often floods here or drought there, increases in oil and fertiliser prices, climate change and changes in land use. All these can be said to cause shortages and so trigger price rises. It is straightforward for us to refuse to buy goods that we consider to be too expensive. We can easily choose to buy something else.
What if there is nothing else? It is difficult for us to imagine a life without the vast choices that we have today. For many people in the world there is no choice and if they cannot afford the price of food in the market they go hungry and they may go hungry for weeks.

It has become apparent that banks, hedge funds and financiers have not only caused the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2006 but have now started to speculate on food and in so doing have driven up global food prices. This has caused food riots in more than 20 countries and governments have had to subsidise staple goods and ban exports. It may not matter to us if speculators cause the price of coffee to rise by 20% in three days just by betting on the price falling. It matters to the grower who cannot sell his crop. Global unrest is a natural result.

We have come to have little respect for bankers. Since the economic crisis, all we have wanted is regulation to stop it happening again. Speculation on food prices must count as one of the most unprincipled activities imaginable.   

People in the developing world have many problems. There are many reasons why there are food shortages and they do not need speculation to cause more problems.