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Allen Levine: Supply -- demanded

Here's what those of us in a country where meals are easily acquired (and where gluttony is sometimes a sport) should consider about the global food crisis.

By ALLEN LEVINE

Last update: April 26, 2008 - 4:45 PM

Next time you buy groceries, you'll probably notice that you're paying more for the same cornucopia of food choices -- about 5 percent more than a year ago, the federal government announced this month. The rising prices tend to be blamed on a variety of causes, mostly related to energy.

But let's put a little perspective on our situation here in the United States. We spend, on average, about 10 percent of our income on food. Even with higher prices, a family that spent $100 a week at the grocery store in 2007 is now spending $105 a week for the same products -- not a huge bite from most of our incomes, even over the course of a year.

Our country is so well-fed that a third of us are obese. To us, gluttony is a sport: "Major League Eating," which holds events where competitive eaters try to stuff the most food into their mouths in the shortest time for cash prizes, actually ranks its top competitors and keeps records of their excesses.

Contrast our situation with the rest of the world, particularly in developing countries where people have less access to food and less variety in their diets. We are seeing higher prices on many items, and some retailers have begun rationing sales of rice. But we are far from the crisis situation in developing countries, where people spend 60 percent to 80 percent of their incomes on food.

Here in the United States, most of us have access to many kinds of meat, fruit, vegetables and carbohydrates, and we have the flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions. If steak prices rise, we switch to hamburger. If the fresh asparagus from Peru is too expensive, we opt for frozen broccoli. But in the developing countries where staple prices are going up, there's often little choice: You either eat rice or you don't eat.

From our perspective of abundance, it's hard to imagine hunger so pervasive that food riots are breaking out from Haiti to sub-Saharan Africa.

These are large policy issues, and they're tightly intertwined with others, ranging from alternative fuels to climate change to the need for disease-resistant, high-yield crops. For an individual here in Minnesota, the problems may seem horrifying and insurmountable -- or worse, not relevant to our daily lives. Neither is true.

So what can each of us do to help balance the food-supply disparities?

•Learn as much as you can about the food crisis, and demand appropriate action from your elected officials.

•Along with supporting charities that send aid around the world, support your local food bank with a cash donation.

•Go green; anything you do to reduce your carbon footprint, particularly through conservation, is a step toward slowing the progress of climate change. As the world gets hotter, growing food in some of the neediest countries will be even more problematic.

•Grow some of your own food, or buy from a local source.

•Eat less and eat healthy. You'll feel better and by buying and consuming less food for yourself, you won't be taking up as many of the valuable resources we need for those who don't have enough.

Remember that the price of food is a complex issue. Our animal and plant foods are grown, improved, transported, processed, marketed, made safe, protected, served and -- at last -- eaten.

Allen Levine is dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota and is director of the Minnesota Obesity Center.

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