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Why are food prices rising?
- 1. Why are food prices rising?
- 2. Basic economics: if there is less of something, the price tends to increases.
- 3. Professor Tim Lang, who developed the idea of ‘food miles’ has called this a POLYCRISIS: a combination of many individual crises. What are these individual factors? Which are short-term and which will be longer term problems?
- 4. 1. Climate change • Caused unpredictable weather including last summer’s drought • Affecting crop yields around the world, leading to food insecurity • Increasing risk of plant diseases in warmer weather
- 5. 2. War in Ukraine • Increased price of fertiliser • Increased price of grain and oils which are fed to animals • Increased price of oil and gas
- 6. 3. Last summer’s drought • Crop yields were lower than usual • Some crops damaged by fire • Grass was affected meaning higher food costs
- 7. 4. Recent bad weather in Africa and Spain • Bad weather damaged salad crops including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. • Due to high energy costs these are not being grown in the UK.
- 8. 5. Panic-buying • When people start to hear of shortages they go out and buy more than they need which leads to shortages and gaps on shelves – rationing by shops feeds this fear.
- 9. 6. Increased wage costs / strikes • Workers are asking for more money: this will add to costs for retailers. • Strikes by lorry drivers and train drivers affected the distribution of food and also led to closures by cafes which served commuters and office workers.
- 10. 7. Some hangovers from COVID19 • Increased demand for cardboard due to rapid rise in home deliveries of clothes, books etc. as shops were closed • Global shipping affected causing disruption to supply chains • Demand for resources around sanitiser, masks, vaccines etc. diverted from food
- 11. 8. Brexit • Workers who provided labour on farms returned home (many during COVID) and were not tempted back by contracts available. • Food rotted in fields for lack of workers • Increased paperwork increased the cost of importing food from the EU
- 12. 9. Avian Flu (HPAI / H5N1) • Millions of birds have been culled due to bird flu • Increased need for antibiotics as a preventative measure (and suggestions of a vaccine) • Increased costs as free-range flocks had to be kept indoors and eggs sold as barn eggs.
- 13. 10. Supermarket culture • Supermarket contracts lead to a lack of flexibility and little competition (which would lower costs) e.g. lettuce prices stay the same so no incentive to produce more in a shortage • If UK doesn’t increase price, then available stock goes to the EU instead • No government intervention
- 14. 11. Energy & fuel costs • Increased costs of transport • Increased costs of refrigeration / lighting in shops and distribution centres. • Increased costs for farmers • Fertiliser manufacture is energy-intensive.
- 15. 12. Timing • This is a period when there are few crops ready for harvesting in the UK and we have lost the habit of keeping food by means such as pickling, preserving etc. due to year-round availability
- 16. 13. Rural crime • Cost-of-living problems leads to thefts of food crops from fields • Farmers see increased problems with crime when people are desperate (also thefts from supermarkets rise).