With the potential shortage and the rise in the cost of living, reducing food consumption, particularly food waste has never been more of a priority.
by Victor Cherubim
We could well be facing a food crisis not only in Sri Lanka, but here in England soon.
Food prices are generally high due to unpredictable weather, perhaps, in part due to COVID-19 and with Climate Change.
Now with the invasion, the war in Ukraine, and more so the cost of living going through the roof, the world’s food chain could be near collapse.
The UK has been hit by several different factors including labour shortages, new immigration rules after Brexit, now soaring energy prices. Besides, the supply chain is currently under intense stress. This time the shortages are scattered throughout supermarkets and grocery stores. Shoppers hoping to get their hands on specific products may find it’s not that easy right now.
It is not like the beginning of the pandemic when people went out and cleared shelves to stockpile and also panicked.
The type of goods in short supply are among others, avocado fruit, crème cheese, baby foods like Gerber, and a shortage of aluminium cans.
They seem to be in short supply because of labour shortage, more particularly, supply chain issues from food manufacturers to grocery store. But, retailers are simply being responsible, even managing their inventory stock.
Supermarkets in Italy and Spain have we are told already started to ration the sale of sunflower oil, due to the planting season in the war affected areas. Ukraine and Russia together account for 70/80 percent of their global exports of sunflower oil. The European Union imports around 200,000 tonnes of sunflower oil every month from Ukraine. Imagine a packet of crisps could double in price?
The planting season of April to May is likely to be impacted by the conflict, with fewer people to work on the land, due to conscription and others fleeing the land, as refugees to neighbouring countries.
Corn and maize is also commonly grown in Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine is the fourth with Russia the fifth largest corn exporters of the world. Corn has many uses. It could have a big impact on meat production, used as animal feed.
With the potential shortage and the rise in the cost of living, reducing food consumption, particularly food waste has never been more of a priority.
Higher prices mean food insecurity. Poorer nations like ours are already feeling the sting. Cutting food waste, reusing food, having two instead of three meals a day, having nutritious and healthy diets, having quality instead of quantity, are some ways to ease the burden on the cost of living.
For those Sri Lankans living abroad, we are told Colombo is 66.69% less expensive than living in London, with rents 85.6% lower than London. But what about the wages, we are told a low wage economy, is not a comparison. With petrol/gasoline averaging in Sri Lanka at Rs.193.87 per litre, no wonder people are having to leave their cars at home and take public transportand/or sharing rides and in fact “park and ride”.
The biggest problem is the cost of living, which is different to the cost of travelling. On average the cost of food is expensive in Colombo. The greatest advantage is there are no winter or heating bills to worry about. As and until, there will be ways to put back a plan of savings, money; bills and income will each play varying roles in affordability.
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