At the beginning of 2008, food riots broke out in various parts of the world, such as Indonesia. They were a reaction to the food prices which had risen by 75% worldwide since 2005. In 2007 alone, prices of agricultural products rose by an average of 40%. The poorest people were the hardest hit because they spend a relatively large proportion of their income on food. In Indonesia, the government has for years kept the price of food artificially low through subsidies and through market influence by buying up food, but this programme threatens to succumb to the rising prices of imported food. Indonesia could be self-sufficient in, for example, rice production, the domestic price of which is half that on the global market, but a planned expansion of the rice areas has hardly been realized yet.

There are a number of developments underlying the rise in prices. The main cause is increased prosperity in China and India, as a result of which the demand for food (especially meat) has risen. At the same time the production of biofuels is swallowing up a proportion of the harvests. In addition – whether or not under the influence of climate changes – recent floods in West Africa, extreme drought in Australia and heavy snowstorms in China have had repercussions on food production. Finally, food transport has become more expensive due to expensive fossil fuels.

The global food problem is actually a distribution issue. Worldwide enough food is produced for everyone. In spite of this, nine hundred million people are undernourished, almost two billion people are malnourished and many more are threatened with hunger and malnutrition in the future. The basic problem is that as a result of poverty, war and complex trade structures, many people do not have access to food.

In the Netherlands, food shortage has become an unfamiliar term, but in the past it was a regular phenomenon. In 1917, a potato riot broke out in Amsterdam when, due to the First World War, there were problems with the food supply and consequently a shortage of food. Workers’ wives plundered a ship carrying potatoes and later also besieged shops and warehouses. Ten people died.

Since the Second World War, the standard of living has increased so much that food riots like these would now be unthinkable in the Netherlands, but the global food crisis may also lead to changes in Dutch policy. Thus the question has already been raised whether the loss of agricultural land in the Netherlands should not be curbed.