Food Prices at Record High: Is a Global Food Crisis Imminent?

We've probably all noticed that the price of food has gone up - and continues to go up - in the local supermarket.  This may not seem like a "crisis" to us, but think of the nearly 25% of Montgomery County residents (as estimated by Manna Food Center) who experience food insecurity at some time during the year - not to mention the hundreds of millions of people in the world who live in poverty and can barely afford to eat as it is now.  Rises in the price of staple foods for these groups mean the difference between eating and hunger... or starvation.

Food prices are now approaching or at their highest level since records have been kept.  When prices were this high in 2008, there were food riots all over the world, as well as a record number of Americans suffering from food insecurity.  (According to a USDA report, 48 million.)

Why are prices so high, and going higher?  According to this recent story published by the Associated Press, the reasons are ones we (and others) have been warning about for some time now: extreme weather events (such as cold in the U.S. south and heat and drought in Russia and China), along with rising fuel prices.

And here are two additional reasons food prices are going sky high: speculation, and the fact that we use such large portions of global grain harvests to feed livestock and to make ethanol.

Ironically, the world grows more food than we need.  (In 2008 we grew nearly twice the amount of food calories needed by the global population.) It's just often the wrong food, grown in the wrong places, used for the wrong purposes, controlled and distributed by the wrong people.  As we've noted before, agribusiness is not about feeding people, it is about feeding corporate profit margins.  And if agribusiness can make more money turning crops into ethanol than feeding it to hungry people, then that's what it will do.

So we've got global warming, peak oil, and a profit-seeking (some would say rapacious) corporate sector controlling our food system.  Do you need another reason to start growing your own food, and supporting local farmers who do?

Veggie Planting Calendar for Maryland

We talked in the last update about the dates for planting potatoes and peas, and fun mnemonics to help remember the dates.  As MVGer Danielle humorously responded, "Planting potatoes and peas on St. Patrick's - that's something even a Jew like me can remember!"  

Fun mnemonics notwithstanding, there is nothing like a good chart to know when to plant your veggies throughout the year.  And here is that chart, from our good friends at the University of Maryland Extension (UME) Master Gardeners.

Additionally, here's a current article from Washington Post garden writer Adrian Higgins on getting your veggie garden going.

Ladies and Gentlemen - start your planting! (If you haven't already....)

 

Suburban Gardener Program: Techniques for Extending the Growing Season - Saturday, April 9

Courtesy of the Continuing Education Department at Montgomery College, and the UME Master Gardeners, Montgomery County:   

"Do you love the idea of eating fresh salads greens from April through December? If so, this is the best time to prepare your soil and begin planting. Explore season-extending techniques, from cloches to cold frames, enabling you to stretch the garden season beyond the fall and into winter. Come and learn how easy 'off-season' gardening can be and take home some newly sown crops for your garden."

This class is the third and last in a series of gardening classes this month at the MCCC Germantown Campus  (I attended the first one two weeks ago, it was excellent), and it will be held on Saturday April 9 from 9:30 AM-12:00 PM.  To register, click here and then type in the keyword "gardening" to find the class listing.  If you have any questions about registration, please contact the Continuing Ed Division at 240-567-5188.  

Garden Educator Training Course - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, April 19-21

To celebrate and move forward with the Montgomery County Public School system's decision to allow vegetable gardens on school property, the Montgomery College Continuing Education Department is also presenting this comprehensive, three part series for teachers - and parents - who want to learn more about starting and maintaining a school garden.

From the course description: "Through a combination of lectures and hands-on activities, this course will cover gardening basics, outdoor education techniques, and ways to integrate the garden with classroom curriculum. This three-part series covers the following areas: Gardening with Children, Container Vegetable Gardening; and Schoolyard Ecosystems. The course will give teachers/educators the essentials to cultivate and maintain schoolyard gardens. Tuition waiver applies; seniors pay fee only."

The Garden Educator Training Course will be taught from 9:30am - 2pm on April 19 - 21 (that's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) at the Agricultural History Farm Park (a beautiful location!) in Derwood, just outside of Gaithersberg.  Click here and then type in the keywords "Garden Educator Training Course" to find the class listing and register.  Any questions?  Just contact the Continuing Ed Division at 240-567-5188.

Want to Support a Montgomery County CSA?

CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, is a form of agriculture in which participants buy shares of a farm's produce before the season begins, and then get weekly deliveries.  It's a great way to support farmers by giving them stable and predictable funding up front, and in return you get to enjoy fresh seasonal produce as it is harvested.

CSAs have, along with the rest of the local, organic and sustainable food movement, been booming in recent years, with an estimated 2200 operating across the country this year.  We support them all, but as MVGer's Ray and Ruth recently asked, what if we want to support farmers in Montgomery County who operate CSAs?  Excellent question!  As we know from recent events, nothing could be more important than supporting farms in Montgomery County, to help prevent them from being turned into condos or soccer fields.

Please click here for a list of Montgomery County CSAs, compiled by our friends at the Montgomery Countryside Alliance.  These CSAs fill up very fast, so don't delay - call now to get your share of fresh, healthy and delicious produce grown right here in Montgomery County! 

Food: Six Things to Feel Good About

Food author Mark Bittman started his most recent NY Times piece as follows:

"The great American writer, thinker and farmer Wendell Berry recently said, 'You can't be a critic by simply being a griper . . . One has also to . . . search out the examples of good work.'"

And find examples of good work Mr. Bittman did, as he explores recent changes in law, a new openness in corporate America, significant increases in personal food growing (that's us!), improvement in school lunches, and the dramatically increased popularity of farming as a career choice.  Filled with facts, figures and tons of links, this article is great testament to what we've been saying - and enabling - all along:  the good food movement is growing!

Thanks to MVGer Ira for passing along this encouraging piece from Mark Bittman!