Global Early Warning System

With a current project on the go on Food Security, it's been interesting getting up to date with trends, data and action - or lack of it - on food security. Most forecasters reckon that long-term, the biggest issue for western consumers and governments will be one of price and ethics - food will be available and potentially much more expensive, which is why ethics become key, forcing the question of how much we're prepared to help those with less resources get the calories they need.

Short-term, the UK risk is of interuptions to supply due to oil price spikes / disasters, which in the form of the petrol strike a few years ago, brought Wales to within six meals of civil disturbance, according to Assembly Members in post at the time.

During my research, I re-read the Sustainable Development Commission's positioning paper on Food Security and came across this useful UN Food and Agriculture Organisation website that reports trends and prices on global food http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/

The link between national and international food security and the actions that we and our elected representatives can take are complex to say the least, and