Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
supplies of crop failures caused by climatic extremes in Australia, Vietnam and Rus-
sia, suggested that food scarcity would be more common in a future affected by
anthropogenic climate hange. hese factors were further compounded by the eco-
nomic uncertainty linked to the financial crisis in the US housing market. Investors
looking for more secure investment options were blamed for accelerating price in-
creases for food commodities by 'bidding up' the value of grain futures. Some talked
of a 'perfect storm' whih might, ater all, prove to be a 'blip' before things return
to business-as-usual. Others are less convinced, viewing 2008 as a harbinger of an
increasingly dire global food situation.
One result of the sense of crisis in the global food system was a proliferation of
conferences and meetings intended both to develop explanations of the crisis, and
to propose solutions or pathways for the future. his topic is a development of one
suh conference at the University of Otago in New Zealand - the 44th Otago Foreign
nature of the situation was evident in the ability of a relatively small, regional con-
ference to atract the interest and contribution of recognized international experts
suh as Robert Watson, Jules Prety, Jean Ziegler (represented by Claire Mahon) and
Tim Lang. While the Otago Foreign Policy Shool is intended to focus on issues of
contemporary importance as they relate to New Zealand foreign policy, it became
very evident that the role of a small nation in the South Pacific extended well bey-
ond its contribution to the global supply of milk, meat, fruit and wine. Thus, the
topic has evolved as a broader examination of the global food system using the food
crisis as a vantage point from whih to scrutinize the social, moral and environment-
al landscape of food provision. While there may not be complete agreement amongst
the contributors as to the exact nature of the crisis (as a temporary 'blip', as a re-
lection of established structural conditions, or as a harbinger of greater hallenges
in the future), all of them recognize the significance of the event as a feature of the
vulnerabilities and uncertainties surrounding the imperative to feed the world. As a
whole, the contributions also indicate the need for a fundamental shift in orientation
and emphasis necessary for developing a more resilient global food system.
The food crisis as an 'event'
The common representation of the popular response to rapidly escalating food com-
modity prices from 2006 to 2008 was that of a crisis event. In this manner, the food
crisis invaded our consciousness, newspaper front pages and television screens as a
