CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment

In the wake of the rising food prices owing to a global shortage, the Confederation of India Industry (CII) has decided to set up a task force to chalk out steps to raise farm production, improve productivity and encourage private sector participation in food distribution.

In a statement here on Sunday, the apex chamber noted that the rising food prices was a matter of concern and called for an immediate global response by way of a platform for dialogue and action to manage the crisis.

“The entire issue of food prices needs to be seen in a global perspective and not just as an issue emanating from specific countries. There is a need for greater flow of global information on food production, consumption and reduction in food wastage,” CII Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

According to the chamber, the main factors for the current food crisis include diversion of farm produce to generate bio-fuels, changing weather conditions across the globe leading to droughts and lower food production in several countries and huge farm subsidies which encourage leaving land fallow to maintain global prices of agricultural products.

The current crisis, the CII said, should trigger a global discussion to build stronger information networks on consumption and production so that corrective measures could be taken across the globe.

The global food management system could be developed under the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), it said.

Meanwhile, CUTS International, an economic policy research and advocacy group, has criticised United States President George Bush for his remarks on food prices going up partly due to the rising prosperity of India’s middle class.

In a statement released here, CUTS Secretary General Pradeep S. Mehta and Research Director Siddarth Mitra said: “George Bush’s remarks on India being the cause for high food prices reflects his utter lack of intelligence, poor understanding on economics and sheer ignorance of basis statistics on food consumption.”

“The average American’s food consumption in calories is 50 per cent more than the average Indian’s; in addition it is still increasing over time at a rate which is faster than that of half-starved India. The current average American intake of 3770 calories, a figure provided by the FAO Statistical Yearbook, is the maintenance diet of a sedentary person weighing 114 kg. Indians, on the other hand, still consume only 2440 calories per capita – just enough to support a much leaner 74 kg,” they said.

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Bush Talking through his Hat
Thesynergyonline, May 05, 2008

The US President George W. Bush’s remarks that food prices are going up due to the high middle class consumption in India is as asinine as he is incomprehensible.

In a statement released here , Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General and Siddarth Mitra, Research Director of CUTS International, a leading economic policy research and advocacy group said that the George Bush is well known for talking through his hat, and his remarks on India being the cause for high food prices reflects his utter lack of intelligence, poor understanding of economics, and sheer ignorance of basic statistics on food consumption.

“The average American’s food consumption in calories is 50 percent more than the average Indian’s; in addition it is still increasing over time and a rate which is faster than that of half starved India . The current average American intake of 3770 calories, a figure provided by the FAO Statistical Yearbook, is the maintenance diet of a sedentary person weighing 114 kilograms” say Mehta and Mitra. Indians, on the other hand, still consume only 2440 calories per capita – just enough to support a much leaner 74 kgs.

Clearly, the food problem has been created by Americans; if all of them were to come down to even the middle class weight in India many hungry people in Sub-Saharan Africa would find more food on their plates. On top of that, resource draining liposuctions would no longer be necessary; the money instead can go to famine victims in Somalia and Ethiopia . The loss of obesity would also probably make Americans look at the outside world with a less jaundiced and more benevolent eye.

Apart from the exploding problem of over consumption, rising food prices have been caused by the sudden shrinkage of food supply to the developing world by the developed countries who have been trying to sustain their unsustainable fuel guzzling life styles by trying to grow oil on plants and trees instead of food, thus suddenly short-circuiting the food supply in the international market.

“The harping on more consumptive lifestyles in India and China is nothing but a ploy to divert attention from their complicity in engineering food shortages and price spirals”, said Mr Mehta.

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