Eat your (local) vegetables
We often hear that Japan has a low self-sufficiency rate when it comes to food. It is said that Japan is "only 40% self-sufficient" but that refers to calories in general.
For rice, Japan is next to 100% self-sufficient, and for vegetables the rate is 79% (2005). That is actually quite high! However, the rate for beef is 43% and Pork is 50%. In other words, if you eat a lot of meat, you are depending on imports, which means you are also depending on a lot of oil for transportation to get your hamburgers to Tokyo. As oil prices are rising, and we reach what is called Peak Oil (when pumping oil from the ground is no longer profitable), food habits will have to change. And of course, if you care about global warming, you may also want to reduce consumption of foods from very distant places.
In 2006, Japan imported fresh and processed vegetables worth about 228 billion yen from China, such as leeks, garlic, satoimo taro roots and shiitake mushrooms, according to Japan External Trade Organization. The value was more than triple the 70 billion yen from the United States, the second-largest supplier.
Asahi: Sizing up China: Better technology helps Chinese vegetable imports thrive
For corn, Japan relies on imports from the U.S. (95%) which is mostly used for animal feed
The Japan Times: Corn price spike to hike costs of food
The label to look for on food packages in Japan is 国産 (Kokusan) which means "domestically produced".
A different take on the same problem comes from Lester Brown, who notes that US corn prices have doubled, as more people want to use biofuels for their cars. This has influenced food prices around the world:
Corn prices have doubled over the last year, wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years, and rice prices are rising too. In addition, soybean futures have risen by half. A Bloomberg analysis notes that the soaring use of corn as the feedstock for fuel ethanol “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain.”
The countries initially hit by rising food prices are those where corn is the staple food. In Mexico, one of more than 20 countries with a corn-based diet, the price of tortillas is up by 60 percent. Angry Mexicans in crowds of up to 75,000 have taken to the streets in protest, forcing the government to institute price controls on tortillas.
Rising grain and soybean prices are driving up meat and egg prices in China. January pork prices were up 20 percent above a year earlier, eggs were up 16 percent, while beef, which is less dependent on grain, was up 6 percent.
EPI: Massive Diversion Of U.S. Grain To Fuel Cars Is Raising World Food Prices
Lester Brown: Plan B 2.0
For rice, Japan is next to 100% self-sufficient, and for vegetables the rate is 79% (2005). That is actually quite high! However, the rate for beef is 43% and Pork is 50%. In other words, if you eat a lot of meat, you are depending on imports, which means you are also depending on a lot of oil for transportation to get your hamburgers to Tokyo. As oil prices are rising, and we reach what is called Peak Oil (when pumping oil from the ground is no longer profitable), food habits will have to change. And of course, if you care about global warming, you may also want to reduce consumption of foods from very distant places.
In 2006, Japan imported fresh and processed vegetables worth about 228 billion yen from China, such as leeks, garlic, satoimo taro roots and shiitake mushrooms, according to Japan External Trade Organization. The value was more than triple the 70 billion yen from the United States, the second-largest supplier.
Asahi: Sizing up China: Better technology helps Chinese vegetable imports thrive
For corn, Japan relies on imports from the U.S. (95%) which is mostly used for animal feed
The Japan Times: Corn price spike to hike costs of food
The label to look for on food packages in Japan is 国産 (Kokusan) which means "domestically produced".
A different take on the same problem comes from Lester Brown, who notes that US corn prices have doubled, as more people want to use biofuels for their cars. This has influenced food prices around the world:
Corn prices have doubled over the last year, wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years, and rice prices are rising too. In addition, soybean futures have risen by half. A Bloomberg analysis notes that the soaring use of corn as the feedstock for fuel ethanol “is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain.”
The countries initially hit by rising food prices are those where corn is the staple food. In Mexico, one of more than 20 countries with a corn-based diet, the price of tortillas is up by 60 percent. Angry Mexicans in crowds of up to 75,000 have taken to the streets in protest, forcing the government to institute price controls on tortillas.
Rising grain and soybean prices are driving up meat and egg prices in China. January pork prices were up 20 percent above a year earlier, eggs were up 16 percent, while beef, which is less dependent on grain, was up 6 percent.
EPI: Massive Diversion Of U.S. Grain To Fuel Cars Is Raising World Food Prices
Lester Brown: Plan B 2.0
Comments
Also, at this early stage, corn dependent nations are hit hardest, but what happens when farmers who grow other crops switch to corn? Ultimately, it will affect everyone, and that doesn't even begin to address the added stress on the rain forests being destroyed due to demand for bio-fuels from soy, sugar cane, and palm oil.
The modern addiction to fossil fuels will have ever increasing repercussions as petroleum depletion puts pressure on such "bio-resources".
Time to re-think the modern energy paradigm.