VOA常速英语2008年-Food Prices Spike Worldwide

By Michael Bowman
Washington
26 March 2008

In recent months, prices for basic foods have risen dramatically in many parts of the world, adding to the misery¹ of impoverished² regions and straining the budgets of families across the globe.  VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, a complex set of factors is causing global demand for food to outstrip³ supply, and experts warn that, absent swift action, the situation may get even worse.

Recent weeks have seen Philippine authorities scramble⁴ to augment⁵ rice stocks in the country, Indonesian officials warn of possible social unrest due to skyrocketing prices for basic foodstuffs⁶, irate⁷ Egyptians protesting bread shortages, and international food aid programs unable to buy enough goods to meet their food distribution targets for vulnerable populations.

These cases should not be viewed as isolated⁸ anomalies, but rather as indicators⁹ of a global phenomenon, according to Lester Brown of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute.

"In seven of the last eight years, world grain production has fallen short of consumption," he said.  "We have been pulling down world grain stocks until now they are at the lowest level in 34 years."

Experts say several factors are to blame: a growing world population, under-investment in agriculture technology, high petroleum¹⁰ prices, housing and business development crowding out farmlands, droughts and floods made more severe by climate change, and demand for a limited supply of fresh water.

In addition, grains like corn once grown exclusively to feed humans and livestock¹¹ are now being diverted into programs to generate ethanol and other so-called "biofuels" as an alternative to oil and gasoline.  With oil prices rising steeply in recent years, the economic incentive¹² to produce grain-based fuels has risen as well.

Taken together, these factors have led to growing food shortages and rising prices that could spell disaster for the world's poor people, according to Lester Brown.

"People on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder are barely hanging on [surviving], and as food prices rise, many are simply losing their grip and beginning to fall off," he added.  "And what we are looking at, in the absence of a major intervention¹³, is a very substantial increase in hunger in the world, in mortality rates."

For the past two years, Australia's wheat harvest has been lowered by drought.  Experts note that Australia is one of many wheat suppliers to the global marketplace.  But they add that, given the tightness in world grain stocks, any production shortfall in virtually any country spells trouble far beyond its borders.

Siwa Msangi, a research fellow at the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, says the margin¹⁴ for error in global food production has been virtually eliminated.

"The margins¹⁵ have shrunk and they are shrinking fast," he explained.  "So if one country stumbles, you are going to feel the prices on the markets immediately."

Msangi, originally from Tanzania, has a set of policy recommendations for governments around the world: invest more in agriculture technology to boost crop yields, address climate change and environmental issues, improve water management, carefully consider the impact of biofuels on world food stocks, and resist the temptation to enact¹⁶ counter-productive measures to artificially lower food prices.

Msangi notes that leaders in Zimbabwe and Venezuela have recently ordered price controls in response to soaring food costs, and says the efforts are making a bad situation worse.

"That is a knee-jerk reaction that a lot of countries take," he explained.  "Instead of producers getting the signal that prices are going up and that they should produce more [food], it actually works against some of the responses that you want the food system to undertake when it is faced with high prices."

How high will global food prices get?  Msangi says no one knows for sure, but he fears they may rise even higher in coming years. 

He says, not only does the world's population continue to grow, but consumers in countries like China and India that are experiencing rapid economic growth are changing their diets as incomes rise: demanding more high-protein food that require large amounts of grain to produce.  In other words, not only are there more mouths to feed, but satisfying each mouth is placing ever-higher demands on world food stocks.

1 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 outstrip   

v.超过，跑过

参考例句：

• He can outstrip his friend both in sports and in studies.他能在体育和学习方面胜过他的朋友。
• It is possible for us to outstrip the advanced countries in the world.我们能超过世界上先进的国家。

4 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

5 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

6 foodstuffs   

食物，食品( foodstuff的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Imports of foodstuffs accounted for a small proportion of total imports. 食物进口仅占总进口额的一小部份。
• Many basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, are tax-free. 许多基本食物如牛奶和面包是免税的。

7 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

9 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

13 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

14 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

15 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

16 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。