ABSTRACT
As a basic necessity of life, the availability, quality, and affordability of food are of great concern to both individuals and nations alike. The world enjoyed several decades of relative stability in the price of basic items of food, including food grains, following the introduction of some new, highyielding seed varieties, better irrigation, and use of fertilizers in the 1960s. This helped raise the production of wheat and other grain cereals quite dramatically, and the world came to enjoy a much improved food environment with reliable and affordable supply of several basic items of food. The period from the early 1970s to 1990 saw world food grains and oilseeds output rise steadily, by an
9.1 Introduction and Outline of Chapter .................................................................................... 125 9.2 Global Food Supply in Context ............................................................................................ 126 9.3 Global Food Consumption Trends ........................................................................................ 127
9.3.1 Quick Note on the Measurement Issue ..................................................................... 127 9.3.2 Structural Changes to Global Consumption Patterns ............................................... 128 9.3.3 Evolving Future Scenario ......................................................................................... 129
9.4 Trends in the Consumption of Speciality Foods .................................................................. 131 9.4.1 Functional Foods ...................................................................................................... 131
9.4.1.1 Concept ...................................................................................................... 131 9.4.1.2 Some Broad Facts and Figures .................................................................. 132
9.4.2 Organic Foods........................................................................................................... 132 9.4.3 Genetically Modiœed Foods ..................................................................................... 133
9.5 Some Emerging In“uences and the Future of the Global Food Economy ........................... 134 9.5.1 Rising Price of Fossil Fuels and the Search for Alternatives ................................... 134
9.5.1.1 Use of Fossil versus Bioenergy: A Brief Background ............................... 134 9.5.1.2 Impact of Biofuels on Food and Nonfood Crops ....................................... 135
9.5.2 Climate Change and the Global Food Economy ...................................................... 136 9.5.3 Globalization of the Food Economy: Evolution and Implications............................ 137
9.6 Concluding Observations ...................................................................................................... 138 References ...................................................................................................................................... 139
average of 2.2% a year, with periodic “uctuations. With the exception of parts of the African continent, the rate of growth of food crops exceeded that of the world population, leading to an increase in their per capita availability, and to their relatively stable prices. Indeed, world food prices in real terms were at their lowest in 100 years in 2000 [1]. For much of the world’s population, cereals are the main source of nutrition; so any adverse change particularly in the production and the prices of cereals is cause for worry.
