Quick Take — The fertiliser factor: why bread, pasta, meat and eggs are at risk

It is no exaggeration to say that about half of the world’s population meets its food needs through the use of fertilisers. In this scenario, Iran plays a crucial role as the world’s fourth largest exporter of urea.

We are talking about a vital substance to ensure abundant harvests of wheat and cereals, the mainstays of our diet. With the war in Iran turning the straits into a shooting gallery, the situation has become critical. Prices are out of control: urea has risen by 25% in just one week, putting spring sowing at risk If with the Russian invasion the problem affected wheat and sunflower oil, the war in Iran shifts the critical issues to fertilisers.

‘If the situation continues, consumers could see higher prices for bread within six to ten weeks, for eggs within a few months, and for pork and broiler chicken within six months, estimates Raj Patel, a food systems expert at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs’.

Source: the Financial Times, which adds:‘The Middle East is one of the world’s biggest fertiliser producers, while the Strait of Hormuz is a crucial sea route for exports.

According to CRU data, about 35 per cent of global urea exports pass through this waterway. Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, which in turn supports about half of the world’s food production.

The route also handles 45 per cent of global exports of sulphur, a key ingredient used to produce phosphate fertilisers, as well as significant volumes of ammonia, a key ingredient for nitrogen fertilisers,’ he says. Moreover, according to recent work, oil and gas price increases of similar amounts to those observed so far, if sustained over time, would lead to a price increase of 1.4 per cent one year from now, compared to a scenario without the shock.

In the article in Il Sole 24 Ore of 6 March below, the problems of the fruit and vegetable sector are highlighted.

Food, environment and health: what could happen with the Mercosur-EU agreement

Mercosur: it is obvious that the ‘invasion’ risk of uncontrolled products, without the safeguard clauses, is likely to exacerbate the risks to our health. But the real problem is that in the European Union there are ‘derogation’ authorisations that allow prohibited substances to be used by member countries to compete unfairly with their neighbours. So before lashing out at Mercosur, perhaps we need to put things in order in Europe

Quick Take — Flood revives concerns over rising food prices in Europe

The winter larder is depleted as rains devastate crops in Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco…

“It is very difficult to replace some parts of the winter vegetable basket, especially those from Spain and Morocco, so I think we will see the effects very soon, and later on, we will probably also see effects on fruit, and then also on meat, dairy… and olive oil.” Central banks have begun to recognise the influence of extreme weather on inflation dynamics… Financial Times

Of course Sicily should also be considered.

Lusetti (Confcommercio): ‘Let’s not harass farmers. Price rises cause energy and climate’ (and raw materials)

The fact of not dealing directly with farmers CANNOT be a boast because it means that those who buy, in the large-scale retail trade, are not doing it well because they accept intermediaries and opacity in the purchase prices and margins of all the actors in the chain. Most probably, by negotiating directly with farmers, they could obtain better prices that would benefit their customers

Our relationship with FOOD over the last 100 YEARS has changed a lot: how?

How has our relationship with food changed over the last hundred years? In the first episode of the docuseries “What We Eat”, produced together with @foodunfolded with the support of EIT Food and co-funded by the European Union, we retrace the evolution of our relationship with what we eat, which has been turned upside down in just one century