Not necessarily, argues Kay McDonald on the basis of a recent OECD report:
While it is partly true in the industrial agricultural system that “food equals oil,” there are many other factors which affect food prices, including the definition of “food” used in making the comparison. Below, I’ve listed some of them.
- The dollar’s value compared to currencies of other food exporting and importing nations.
- Supply and demand.
- Amount of food used for biofuel production.
- Available infrastructure in transport and storage of food.
- The price of natural gas.
- Economic health of each nation.
- The amount of global meat consumption.
- Weather.
- Population growth.
- The percent of food wasted.
- Transport prices (not always the same as oil prices, as, for example, currently we have excess bulk shipping capacity which has lowered shipping rates).
- Government Ag policies and price support programs.
- Trade agreements.
- Geopolitics.
In her post, Kay also discusses how the OECD report finds no support for the claim that food price volatility has increased significantly over the last few years when compared to the last 50 years.
More generally, if you have any interest in food policy, Kay’s blog, Big Picture Agriculture, is a must-follow.
Why Is “Downton Abbey” So Popular?
It was Spring Break last week at Duke, so I enjoyed all that “free” time to do two things. During the day, I worked on revising a few research papers that are in various stages of production. At night, I watched all of
the BBC’sITV’s Downton Abbey.I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but I wonder why I — and, apparently, hundreds of thousands of others — enjoyed it so much. When all is said and done, most of the characters are pretty one-dimensional, and The Wire this is not. But if you’ve not seen the show and plan on watching it, skip the next two paragraphs to avoid the spoilers.
Thomas and O’Brien, who are respectively a footman and the lady’s maid, are always bad. Anna and Bates, who are respectively the head housemaid and the lord’s valet, are always good. Perhaps the only character who exhibits a bit of depth is the dowager countess, brilliantly played by Maggie Smith.
(Yes, I know: Bates is in prison for the death of his wife. But is there any doubt that season 3 will bring a new development which will exonerate him?)