Will the cloud of the coming Food Price Crisis have a silver lining?

The threat of the coming Food Price Crisis increased as further bad news broke concerning the drought in America.

As covered in our previous article Food Prices rises may help to change consumer habits and raise awareness to the failings of the modern, big is best, food industry. In some cases expensive food, or empty shelves may change a whole culture with dramatic positive outcomes.

When the USSR stopped supplying Cuba with fertilizer, fuel and chemicals, the whole population started growing food organically with incredible results. Here is a very good video with the whole story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUWces5TkCA

This ‘forced’ change, to farmers and consumers, has been a huge inspiration for organic farming and proved to many that the world could feed itself without oil, chemicals and fertilizer, from small farms, and improve diet and a sense of community.

Food growing is becoming a very popular way of building communities and food security. A recent initiative in New York has a ‘tripple bottom line’, increasing availability of fresh food, giving problem kids a purpose and away from crime, and improving diet.

Again a great, and shorter, video, to watch here. You will love the fast talking teacher!

At BigBarn we have been working with a school in Leicester building mini allotments outside 2 primary school classrooms. Funded by the Lottery our team has taught the kids all about growing, cooking and eating the produce. And any left over produce will be sold through local shops opting in to our Crop for the Shop initiative.

The project has been a huge success with incredible enthusiasm from all the children. Case studies are being written up for other schools to follow, and we hope to see all those involved leave school with the knowledge of, how to grow food, make healthy meals at very low cost and make money from selling the ‘crop’ as well as perhaps the foods they have cooked! Another tripple bottom line?

So if the Food Price Crisis gets people to read about, value and implement, these projects and ideas, and government to change there food policy from, ‘big is best’ to ‘small is beautiful’, there will be a big silver lining.