Food prices expected to soar over the next 20 years, says charity

Oxfam warns of growing public health crisis as food prices continue to rise. Photo via Brian Lary.

An international charity located in the U.K., Oxfam, said that food prices over the next 20 years could easily double. The announcement was made today as an early warning to the potential devastation rising food prices could have on the already hundreds of millions hungry people worldwide. The organization warns that the cost of food is already having a significant impact on the poor as inflation, oil prices, population and climate change start to tick up, so will the competition for food.

The organization goes on to warn that the future of the food supply and most importantly, access to food, will be available by stark contrasts in resources and wealth, leaving the poor and those without proper resources to languish and perish. Oxfam wrote and documented their research in a new catalog entitled Growing a Better Future. While the headline creates a fear laden pause, the published piece is full of political commentary. The organization doesn’t hide their dislike of corporations and calls for increased regulation amongst corporations and wealth by way of national governments while also criticizing government for allowing corporations to put profit over human consequence. They also believe that climate change and the selfish human interests of those trying to obtain wealth, conflict with the needs of the poor.

Much of their political stance can be taken from the following statement in their newly published paper on hunger:

“Governments have largely failed to resist these interests– to prevent the capture of policy making, to stop the plunder of public resources, or to regulate powerful companies. And governments have neglected the needs of poor and vulnerable populations, especially those of women, demonstrating an alarming lack of will to address the drivers of hunger, inequality and ecological collapse.”