Give us this day our daily bread

It is an ancient prayer. The world’s poorest have always known its reality. But with food prices rising there may be widespread trouble ahead.

The world news has begun to make the link between oil and food. Most of the world’s oil fields are in decline. We are using much more than we are discovering and more and more countries are industrialising. The inevitable result is what is being called Peak Oil. We are reaching the point where oil demand outstrips supply. At that point oil prices rise considerably. Oil has just reached an oil time high at 139$ a barrel. This may only be the beginning.

At the same time world food prices are rising. Some staples have doubled or trebled over the last few years. The causes are complex.They include the rising world population, the increasing numbers of ‘middle class consumer types’ who eat meat and drive cars , the impact of climate change on world food availability and the use of land for biofuel production instead of food.

People are saying that this combination of oil and food price rise is certain to produce world recession and political instability in the near future.

It is like a tidal wave which you can just see rising. It is time to change the way that we are living. I suspect that many more people will soon be praying ‘give us this day our daily bread’ … and its accompanying statement ‘do not bring us to the time of trial’…

A 15 gallon tank filled with biofuel contains the equivalent of seven months food for a person.

For a summary of how this is impacting individual countries

It seems to me that this conjunction of oil price, food price and population increase are extremely serious for the world and bearing down on us fast. I am starting a thread in the locutory to discuss this under the title triple whammy.

Suggested Task: How do you see us getting through this?

Take part in the discussion in the locutory entitled triple whammy

Your comments.

Bad habits have finally taken a toll on human race. Let us all hope that solutions will come soon.

This definitely calls for a change in our ways.