FOOD MADNESS - Counting the calories

Chasing the calorie trail.

It takes 10 fossil fuel calories to produce 1 food calorie on a first world table.

An oil burning machine is used to plough a field.
That ploughing machine and all of the raw materials in that machine were manufactured using oil, gas and coal based energies.

An oil burning machine is used to plant seeds.



That seed drilling machine and all of the raw materials in that machine were manufactured using oil, gas and coal based energies.



The seeds are treated in a factory with germination products derived from oil.
The factory uses oil, coal and gas based energies to run.

The factory uses oil burning machines to bring raw materials to it and oil burning machines to deliver seeds to distribution centres.

These distribution centres consume oil, gas and coal based energies.


They use oil burning machines to transport their seed products to farms.

An oil burning machine is used to apply a high yielding fertiliser.



That fertiliser is derived from oil.


That fertiliser is produced in a factory that uses oil, gas and coal based energy sources.
That factory uses transportation methods and energy sources to distribute its product as the seed company.

The farms often rely on irrigated water systems.
Oil, gas and coal based energies are used to extract water from aquifers and pumped large distances using pumps that consume oil, gas and coal based energy sources.
Pesticides are used throughout the growing period.
These pesticides are derived from oil.
Like the seeds and the fertilisers, these pesticides are made in factories using oil, gas and coal based energies and are transported and distributed using oil burning machines.

The crops are harvested using a multitude of oil burning machines.

The crops are transported to distribution centres using oil burning machines.

The distribution centres use oil, gas and coal based energies.

The goods are packaged in plastics and cardboard.

The plastics are oil derived products.
Cardboard use huge amounts of oil, gas and coal based energies for their extraction, production, transportation and distribution needs.
These packaged products are transported to distribution centres using oil burning machines.
They are then redistributed to supermarkets using oil burning machines.
Millions of people collect their food from supermarkets each day using oil burning machines.














To reiterate then. For each calorie of food on a first world table, another 10 calories of fossil fuel derived energy has been used to put it there.

And finally to put this in perspective.

Each person requires around 2000 food based calories per day to maintain themselves. In power terms this equates to 2.326 KWh; about the same as an electric kettle running for 1 hour or 15 TV sets running for an hour. And given that it takes 10 calories of fossil fuel to produce and transport 1 calorie of food to your table, each person uses the equivalent of 23.26 KWh of fossil fuel energy per day. That is about twice the amount of fossil fuel energy that the average family uses each day for their domestic electricity requirements.

OIL IS THE KEY.

EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON IT AND IT'S RUNNING OUT FAST.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - The commodity conundrum

Data just released by the World Bank shows that 44 million more people in developing countries have been pushed into extreme poverty in the 8 months since June 2010. They say that food commodity prices have hit 'dangerous' levels.

Reasons why global food prices are heading out of control.

Droughts, storms and fires - These have impacted on rising food prices. However, these events happen every year and are not responsible for the current spikes in commodity prices.

Emerging markets - Rapidly developing central Asian countries are seeing phenomenal economic growth activity. Corporations are exploiting their rising disposable incomes and these countries are now sucking in a diversification of 'en vogue' agricultural products. These are being sourced on the world commodity exchanges and driving prices higher.

Bio fuels - Developed countries, particularly those who have signed up for multinational climate change mitigation agreements, are chasing every megawatt from every possible area. Vast tracts of land have been turned over to produce bio crops. This leaves a significant reduction in the available acreage required to produce sugar and cereals in these cash crop producing regions. Lack of supply pushes prices higher.

Commodity speculation - Investment bankers have switched their strategies in light of the financial crisis and the post crisis equity fear expeienced in dealing rooms around the world. Commodities and complex commodity derivatives are now being transacted with the fury once reserved for stocks, shares, options and futures. With all of these new middle men taking their cut, offloading prices have soared.

Globalisation - This has facilitated a tsunami of commodity exchange possibilities. These new 'panaceas' will realise themselves as speculative bubbles followed by spectacular and chaotic collapses.

Currency wars - Because of the financial crisis and the subsequent debt hangover and austerity programs, Governments around the world are doing their damnedest to reduce the value of their fiat currencies in order to inflate away their structural sovereign debts. This only facilitates a race to the bottom. The result of low currency values is higher import prices.

Crude oil price - For a whole raft of reasons previously discussed, crude oil prices will only be heading in one direction and that is not down. Many pesticides, animal feeds and crop fertilisers are derived from oil based products. Most commodities also attract vast fuel miles and transportation costs.


The Tunisian, Egyptian and future middle eastern, central Asian and African stories all have rising food prices as a catalysing process. In the short term a welcome regime change may come. However it is unlikely that regime changes will curtail the longer term future of escalating food prices.