Five months ago, when I round up this blog for a temporary pause, we were facing a situation of rising food prices. This was caused by a few factors, but largely by the rise in the cost of fuel. Of course, as we all know, this has changed somewhat now and the cost of fuel has come down to a much more reasonable price. But, what impact will the credit crunch have on farming and hence on our food? I found this video quite interesting, from Farmers Weekly Interactive:
Agriculture and the recession
What surprised me the most is that it seems that farming has historically done quite well in a recession, so we might expect to see more of the same this time round. However, of course, this time it is going to be much harder for farmers to get credit, which is likely to have some impact on their business. I have to admit that I really don't understand all the issues at stake here, but I will continue to look into it.
2 comments:
Does beer count as food? I hope so and I wouldn't be surprised if traditionally it once was.
As a keen real ale drinker, I wonder if there is scope for this facet in Eating British as you "chew the cud".
I wonder what impact a serious recession would have on the British beer industry? It's already in serious trouble (so we're led to believe) so would a recession be the final nail in the coffin or an unlikely saviour?
I'm not sure if beer counts as food, but it certainly was part of the original Eating British year, although I didn't write about it much. I will aim to follow this up once I get into blogging again more regularly. You last point is an interesting one, I have to say that I really don't know. Certainly, many pubs have recently closed in Lincolnshire. But this is a rural area, so I don't know if urban pubs are doing better. Now, this might not be the end for the British beer industry since people may be opting to drink at home and so may be buying more British beer in the supermarkets, but British beers, particularly ales are actually quite expensive. It is certainly worth further investigation.
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