People, Food, Land and Power

The connections between people, food, land and power form the basis of good green philosophy. Climate change is having disasterous effects around the globe, with a phenomenally high number of extreme weather events, none of which in isolation could be blamed on climate change but taken as a whole and in the knowledge that 2010 is the hottest year ever so far, the blame for these events can be laid firmly at the door of climate change. Johann Hari's excellent expose of denialist thinking last month spells this out more clearly than I could possibly do.

Food is one area where climate change will hit. Common Dreams has a useful take on Mozambique and its food riots, from the perspetive of global commodity markets and their impact on hunger for the poorest people:

But to see how climate change will play out in the 21st century, you needn't look to the Met Office. Look, instead, to the deaths and burning tyres in Mozambique's "food riots" to see what happens when extreme natural phenomena interact with our unjust economic systems. The immediate causes of the protests in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, and Chimoio about 500 miles north, are a 30% price increase for bread, compounding a recent double-digit increase for water and energy. When nearly three-quarters of the household budget is spent on food, that's a hike few Mozambicans can afford. Deeper reasons for Mozambique's price hike can be found a continent away. Wheat prices have soared on global markets over the summer in large part because Russia, the world's third largest exporter, has suffered catastrophic fires in its main production areas.

Understanding the relationship between people and their environment is essential in green thinking, but we need to look beyond the immediate environment and consider the wider impacts of politics and economics. Global markets are driving the price of food beyond the reach of the poor while the rich get fatter.