ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Middle East, where climate change’s impacts on the food system are already quite visible, and are exacerbated by markets. It argues that market mechanisms put up inherent barriers to achieving climate justice in food systems. North American culture often considers free food only for charity. Food banks, food shelves, food pantries, and other charities provide free food to low-income families. The commodity food system, paradoxically, produces a lot of free food. Dumpster diving is among the best ways to access free food in urban areas. Periodic food supply troubles will continue as climate change unsettles weather patterns and the ecosystems where communities produce food for themselves and the world’s ever-growing urban populations. Americans and Canadians spend less than 10% of their incomes on food, on average. When the global food supply is disrupted, markets send no discernible signal to the world’s wealthy to consume less.
