BBC Learning English
Words in the News
22nd
June 2011
Food price warning
Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2011
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
The world faces "a century of hunger" if the international community cannot agree on new
rules regarding food prices, the French agriculture minister, Bruno Le Maire, has warned.
He says it is vital for the world's 20 richest nations to come to an agreement on tackling food
prices. Nigel Cassidy reports.
With global food prices up 40% on average since last summer, there's a new consensus
among the leading nations that they should act together not only to try and secure supplies but
to curb some of the causes of the volatility, not just in commodity trading but on the streets
as essential foods become unaffordable for some.
The G20 nations hope to calm food markets by agreeing greater transparency in how much
dairy, grain, rice or other foodstuffs each country is producing.
Now strong demand for farm foods seem likely to push up prices for years to come but
President Sarkozy also blames speculators for price hikes which have fuelled unrest in the
Middle East and North Africa but his demand for curbs on investors taking positions in food
commodities seem unlikely to get majority support.
But another idea that may not get traction in Paris is a plan for countries to hold, say, grain or
rice stocks in reserve. An idea seen as a throwback to the days when countries and not
farmers controlled their own food production.
Nigel Cassidy, BBC News
