Effects on the Poor

Those who live in developed countries spend an average of under 16% of their income on food. Even so, many are feeling a considerable pinch at the grocery store and are changing the way they eat. But in these countries, the availability of processed foods modifies increased costs;
producers of processed foods absorb some of the costs and the consumer pays proportionately
less.

In developing countries, poor people spend up to 80 % of their disposable income on food.  Furthermore, the food they eat is primarily “pure”; unprocessed grains comprise a main share of their diet.  There is no buffer to modify their food costs. Those who always lived on the edge of starvation have been tipped over that edge by spiraling prices. Economic theory known as  Engel’s Law notes that the proportion of a nation’s income spent on food is a good measure of the nation’s welfare. The higher that proportion is, the poorer the nation is. Not only do poor countries spend a disproportionate share on food, their individual citizen’s intake is often well below a suggested requirement of 2300 calories (“Agricultural Outlook” 1997). The “global” food crisis shows most heartbreakingly in the faces of the poor.

This is part of an article from the July issue of Spotlight on Orphans newsletter.