Food Shortages Cause Concern Worldwide

Noelle Blair, Staff Reporter

Noelle_Blair@csumb.edu

May 8, 2008

Although water shortages remain

a major concern for several countries

throughout the world, several

new innovations are making vast

improvements to the quality of life

for those living in impoverished

countries, such as the LifeStraw.

The LifeStraw is a personal filtration

device used to clean dirty

water of bacteria and viruses that

cause many of the world’s most

fatal diseases, such as typhoid,

cholera and salmonella.

About 6,000 people die of these

diseases worldwide everyday.

The World Health Organization

found in a 2000 reported that, “At

the beginning of 2000 one-sixth

(1.1 billion people) of the world’s

population was without access to

improved water supply… and twofifths

(2.4 billion people) lacked

access to improved sanitation.”

Developed by Vestergaard

Frandsen, a Switzerland-based

producer of disease controlling

products, the LifeStraw was

created to help reach the goal of

reducing the number of people

without access to clean water in

half by 2015. One LifeStraw can

filter about one year’s supply of

water, or about 700 liters, for a

single individual.

It costs about $15 to donate a

LifeStraw or LifeStraw Family, a

larger version of the same product

used to filter water for several

people. More information can be

found at vestergaard-frandsen.com.

In nations throughout the world

food shortages are common.

However, recently they have been

seen in the U.S., particularly the

West Coast.

The most significant shortage

has been rice, due to failed crops

and hoarding by those who saw an

upcoming problem. In addition to

rice, many vegetables also have seen

increasing prices, especially corn.

Some scientists and organizations

have been warning of an impending

shortage for several years, especially

since the rise of ethanol, which uses

high amounts of corn to produce

the fuel.

The effects of the rice shortage

are visible at retailers such as Costco

and Sam’s Club, where some stores

are limiting the amount of bulk rice

that customers can buy.

“Quantities are hard to find,” said

Melissa Edwards, the merchandise

manager for the Sand City Costco.

“It’s a company wide issue.”

The corporate office located in

Issaquah, WA said that currently

there is no rice shortage and that

this is a problem that has passed.

A public relations worker for

the company said that they had

no comment.

Constant drought in Australia,

a major grower of rice, has also

led to dwindling crops that would

have otherwise been exported to

other countries where rice is a

staple. As fear of the shortage

grew, many developing countries

began to stockpile rice, resulting

in a shortage for other markets.

There are some people who do

not believe that there actually is

a food shortage. “The global crop

is larger than ever,” economist

Nathan Childs told “USA Today.”

“But with some of the principal

exporters of the higher-priced

rices, such as India and Vietnam,

shunning foreign sales to control

prices at home and the cost of

food generally going up, the price

of rice has been climbing to new

heights.”