Sustainable Diets Food for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet: Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Food Price Environment
4 The Food Price Environment
Pages 61-80
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From page 61... ...
Recent reversals in a couple of key long-term economic trends, such as the recent increase in commodity prices after decades of decreasing prices, are also likely due, at least in part, to extreme weather events. Still, despite increasing commodity prices, average food prices have been relatively stable and will continue to remain stable in the near future.
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From page 62... ...
In addition to economic incentives, Wilde encouraged workshop participants to consider removing counterproductive agricultural and food policies and developing new public policies that more directly address some of the problems at hand. Key Themes of This Chaptera • Although overall food prices in the United States have remained steady and will likely remain steady into the future, some food groups show more price volatility than others.
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From page 63... ...
Despite the fact that commodity prices, as well as energy prices, have been on the rise and are growing more volatile, food prices in the United States have remained remarkably stable (see Figure 4-1)
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From page 64... ...
Stability of average food prices (and "personal services" prices) over time, compared to (B)
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From page 65... ...
. Although, on average, food prices have remained stable, with fluctuating commodity prices having little impact, prices for individual food groups have been volatile (see Figure 4-2)
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From page 66... ...
66 SUSTAINABLE DIETS 12.0 10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 –2.0 Food –4.0 Cereals and Bakery Products Sugar and Sweets –6.0 Dairy Products Fish and Seafood –8.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Food –5.0 Meats Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Fats and Oils Nonalc Bevs –10.0 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 0.0 –5.0 Food –10.0 Poultry –15.0 Eggs –20.0 Other Foods 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 FIGURE 4-2 Fluctuating food prices for individual major food groups over time. SOURCE: Original analysis by Volpe using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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From page 67... ...
As another example, Seaver showed an image of American Spirit cigarettes, labeled "Made with 100% organic tobacco." 5 This section summarizes information presented by Barton Seaver, chef, and Director of the Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
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From page 68... ...
Seaver described this fishery as the world's largest single-species fishery, accounting for 10 to 15 percent of global catch annually. The fishery boats are so big, carrying 60,000 tons of fish at a time, that they cannot get near shore.
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From page 69... ...
fisheries system has created and the way those demands strain fisheries. A cod net yields not just cod, but also pollock, haddock, tusk, ling, wolf, dogfish, monk, skate, ray, eel, shark, and all sorts of what Seaver described as "tasty flaky white flesh fish." In the best-case scenario, pollock earns $2.00 at the dock, and dogfish only 10 cents, while cod, being king, commands $6.00.
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From page 70... ...
CAN ECONOMIC INCENTIVES DRIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHIER DIETS? 7 Rather than putting the burden on the consumer to make changes, Wilde underscored the importance of thinking about how resource scarcity and the environmental consequences of production affect food prices and how consumers respond to those prices.
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From page 71... ...
Economists use elasticity to measure consumer response to taxes. "Own-price elasticity" is the percentage change in the quantity of a good purchased ("good A")
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From page 72... ...
; and the role of nutrition assistance programs. A number of actions are being taken to affect economic incentives for low-income Americans, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
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From page 73... ...
Incentives for consumers to change the environmental impacts of their food choices are different when the environmental impact is water pollution versus scarcity. With scarcity, the adjustment happens almost automatically: food prices increase when a resource becomes scarcer.
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From page 74... ...
PANEL DISCUSSION WITH THE AUDIENCE The presentations on price environment raised several questions about the synergies and trade-offs between health and the environmental for some fruits and vegetables; whether the slightly rising food prices should be of concern, given the stagnancy of U.S. wages; the push in the United States to permit large-scale offshore aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico; the relationship between food prices and obesity; and the food and agricultural industry response to concerns about future climate change.
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From page 75... ...
Volpe agreed that median wages across the economy have been fairly stagnant for a long time, while retail food prices have been increasing at about 2.5 to 3 percent annually during the last 20 years or so. That said, the rate of inflation for food prices has actually been slower than the rate of inflation overall.
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From page 76... ...
. Volpe added that the WIC program is another very large food assistance program in the United States that provides purchasing power to lowincome Americans to buy healthy foods (e.g., infant formula, milk, bread, cereal)
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From page 77... ...
A recent study in the British Medical Journal described a coupling between food and fuel shortages in Cuba in the 1990s and a subsequent decrease in obesity and type 2 diabetes rates among Cubans; after food prices stabilized, the obesity and type 2 diabetes rates rebounded (Franco et al., 2013)
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From page 78... ...
2010. The impact of food prices on consump tion: A systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food.
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From page 79... ...
2013. Food price outlook.
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