There is a well known saying, 'no pain, no gain' and that will be ringing true in the minds of Milk Link’s 1,600 producers, who are on the brink of reaping just reward for 12 years of loyalty and investment.NFU hits out at 'alarmist' climate change report
THE NFU has hit out at a report from Friends of the Earth (FoE) which claims climate change will send food prices soaring with a pint of beer costing £18 in 2030.
Brandishing the report ‘alarmist science fiction’ the NFU said while forecasts did point to an overall trend of rising food prices, the FoE figures were exaggerated.
The report claimed the price of staple foods would rise four and a half times above normal inflation as the changing climate puts extra stress on land and resources while yields of crops like wheat, rice and maize will also fall.
The report was written by Ray Hammond, a visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford’s Institute for the Future of Humanity.
Mr Hammond said: “Our global food production is already precarious - and climate change threatens to tip it into disaster.
“Six pounds and 50 pence for a loaf of bread, £7 for a bag of pasta and £18 for a pint of lager - this is what the future looks like in Britain if we don’t prevent dangerous climate change.”
The NFU said it was ‘disappointed’ with the report having previously agreed with FoE on a number of climate change and renewable energy issues in recent years.
A statement said: “We believe food prices will need to rise in real terms in the future, in order to drive the investment in production needed to feed a world population of nine billion, but not to the extent suggested by FoE.
“Although most medium to long-term price forecasts indicate upwards price trends for key agricultural commodities, we urge caution when forecasting long-term pricing levels.”
The FoE report: food prices in 2030
- £6.48 for a 800g loaf of white bread (now 72p, would be £1.44 with normal inflation)
- £17.91 for a 1 litre corn oil (now £1.99, would be £3.98 with normal inflation)
- £15.21 for 1 kg of basmati rice (now £1.69, would be £3.38 with normal inflation)
- £7.20 for 500g corn flakes (now 78p, would be £1.56 with normal inflation)
- £16.02 for 24 Weetabix-style biscuits (now £1.78, would be £3.56 with normal inflation)
- £18.45 for a pint of Pilsner lager (now £2.05, would be £4.05 with normal inflation)
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Readers' comments (6)
Anonymous | 29 October 2009 10:04 am
Most of the claims coming from climate change campaigners are science fiction. As more of their computer generated predictions fall apart these people get increasingly desperate and shrill.
The climate has always changed and always will. To suggest man is responsible, rather than natural cycles and the influence of the Sun, is plain nonsense.
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Nick Fraser | 29 October 2009 12:07 pm
Plain nonsense? Then how comes we;re at the bottom of a solar cycle (google images for solar cycle)? How comes the current decade is the warmest on record, the second warmest being the 1990s, the third warmest being the 1980s? You can't tell farmers the climate isn't warming, and you can't tell scientists that there is no greenhouse effect caused by CO2 and other gases in the atmosphere.
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Anonymous | 29 October 2009 2:42 pm
Nick dont forget the 70s when the government announced we were going to freeze and also do not forget the last 3 winters have felt cold to me.
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Carniphage | 29 October 2009 7:07 pm
More CO2 leads to rising agricultural yeilds.
Look at any graph of agricultural output and it is increasing from 1980-2009.
If temperatures *fell* then there really would be a problem with food inflation.
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Anonymous | 30 October 2009 9:39 am
Carniphage - are you sre the rise in yields is a result of CO2?? Perhaps technological advancement and improving skills have a far bigger role to play.
As for global warming being 'nonsense' you only have to look at the huge spike in the graphs following the industrial revolution to realise that without human factors the earth would warm thousands of times slower than it is now.
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Anonymous | 8 March 2010 6:06 pm
PLEASE, download and read 35 INCONVENIENT TRUTHS. It`s all you need to do. As to solar cycles, well they happen every 11 years.....and so what ? For those of you old enough to remember, in 1970/80 the "experts" predicted an ice age would happen before 2000...Well, you`re still here ! Day by day the "man made global warming " brigade get more scared and desperate..and with good cause. The planet warms and cools all by itself, and we don`t need a tax to go with it thank you very much. As to CO2 it`s only a very small proportion of "greenhouse gases" In fact 97% of all "greenhouse" gases is water vapour...and since five sevenths of the planet is under water, poor old CO2 is totally meaningless. ( but conveniently taxable ). Work it out. All these graphs which are pushed forward are meaningless, since compared to the millions of years the planet has been around, what can any sensible person conclude from a microscopic amount of time like a hundred years. That arguement is a non starter. Just read 35 INCONVENIENT TRUTHS, and all will be explained. Have a nice climate !
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