This is the blog for Horticulture 318: Applied Ecology of Managed Ecosystems at Oregon State University.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
More squabbles over grain prices
Argentine grain farmers are on strike over the price they can get for their product. Read a news story about it here. The Argentine government wants to keep domestic food prices low (this is a country that has been hit by bouts of by crippling hyper inflation a few times in its history). They are doing this by limiting the ability of grain farmers to export their product (thus increasing the domestic supply). Understandably this doesn't sit too well with farmers who would like to take full advantage of the rising global price for grain. This type of dispute is probably as old as there have been farmers, costumers, and governments. But it is taking place in the context of seemingly increasing concerns about global food prices. It is also a good example of a classic conundrum. If you were in charge how would you go about trying to assure that people in your country have access to affordable food? Make sure your farmers are happy and profitable?
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Big conundrum! Well...I guess food exportation is really a question of what is worth more: food to feed your people, or the connection of power to other countries represented as currency. The term balance comes to mind, but of course we all know how hard it is to build a pyramid out of a deck of cards!
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