At what price?

Over the last few weeks, we have been made increasingly aware of a reality that many of us may once have thought to be unthinkable. There just isn't enough food to go around. For decades now, there has been talk about the increasing population density of places such as China, India and other parts of Asia and Africa, and there has been a certain modicum of concern for the fact that decreasing levels of subsidization for the agricultural sector of the world's economies would one day lead to major problems. Well here we are.

From China to India to Vietnam and even to the grocery shelves in our neighbourhoods, the prices for rice and flour have skyrocketed in the last six weeks or so. A 10Kg bag of rice that once sold for CA$6.00 is now priced at CA$15 or more, and other grains are following suit. What's behind all the fuss?

Another of the current trends these days is an increasing concern for the environment. All the fuss and focus on 'going green' has led to new vocabularies and suddenly hybrid automobiles and biofuels seem to be all the rage, but take a closer look. Biofuels are created when agricultural products are used to generate sources of energy which in turn power the machines of high society. At first glace there may appear to be many benefits to this alternative, but consider the real price for such progress.

In more and more areas of the world, fields that once were used for the growing of rice and grain, destined for the production of food, are now being used for the growing of corn and other grains which are not destined for store shelves or family tables, but for production facilities which provide biofuels. Considering that the pendulum swings from one extreme to another, the danger of usurping land once used for the production of food and using it for the production of biofuels is that prices for grains and other commodities are on the rise, and the have-nots of the world are starving.

Last week, the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO) held a regional conference for Latin America and the Caribbean. During this gathering, Msgr Renato Volante, the Vatican's Permanent Observer at the FAO cautioned that although there are significant possibilities for the protection of the environment through the use of biofuels, their production is proving to be a major cause for the food shortage now facing increasing numbers of the world's poor.

It is good and just that we should be concerned with the long-term protection of the gifts we have been given, but if our zeal for going green causes black marks on the record we hold when it comes to caring for one another, haven't we missed the mark?