Fri, Jun 03, 2011 page8

• EDITORIAL: The tip of the iceberg

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  Localized food scares that wind up having international implications have been around for a while. The melamine scare in powdered milk, the various bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) scares and numerous outbreaks of pathogens like E. coli in anything from peanut butter to spinach have invariably started out locally — in the US, China, UK or other countries — and then went global if those countries exported their tainted goods. Taiwan now finds itself in the grips of a new scare owing to some companies’ illegal use of the chemical di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in food additives.

  These scares, however serious they might be, distract public attention from a bigger, more important and ultimately much more dire problem — the complete disappearance of food from the bowls and tables of millions of people worldwide.

  In the midst of this latest food fiasco, the Taiwanese public was barely aware of a recent report by the US charity Oxfam warning that the global food system was stumbling toward a catastrophic breakdown. Taiwan might feel safely removed from any potential lack of food with its numerous traditional wet markets, supermarkets, hypermarts and its rice bowl agricultural zones, but it is just as likely to feel the effect of the coming global food pinch as any other country.

  Oxfam warned that in 20 years, global food prices would double because of food price inflation, oil price hikes, misuse of land and water and creeping climate change. As climate change picks up after 20 years, food prices are expected to double again. At the same time, with rising populations around the world, demand for food is expected to be 70 percent higher in 2050.

  Taiwan is not safe from these global changes. Although Taiwan has traditionally grown almost all the rice needed to meet domestic demand, that portion has been decreasing since Taiwan joined the WTO in 2002, with WTO ascension depending on Taiwan importing less expensive rice.

  In the meantime, many Taiwanese have made the switch from rice to wheat, relying on the imported grain for most of their caloric needs, even prompting the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to initiate a campaign urging people to go back to locally grown rice.

  Plummeting self-sufficiency and rising food imports are not the only issues that make Taiwan vulnerable to global food shocks. With the Ma administration’s outright emphasis on Asian Tiger-era industrial economic growth, farms that could be used to shore up Taiwan’s food banks are either being polluted or expropriated for large construction projects. Land that could be used to grow rice is being used for more buildings to be sold as cookie-cutter real estate.

  Water is another problem. Although Taiwan has dodged the bullet year after year as typhoons replenished dangerously low reservoirs, leaky pipes and the resulting huge amounts of wasted water make it likely that some day, fields will dry up and precious food will be lost, especially because the electronics industry is prioritized in water use.

  The list goes on. As Taiwan’s population declines, there will be less people to till the nation’s fields.

  Taiwan is facing the perfect storm, despite its seeming smorgasbord of food. Decreasing -self---reliance, misuse of land, waste of water and an aging population all threaten Taiwan’s food supply. And as imported food becomes increasingly expensive, who is to stop unscrupulous companies from saving money by using illegal additives in manufactured food products?

  Unless all these problems are addressed, Taiwan’s food scares will become a food nightmare.
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