On 29 April 2008, the Chief Executives Board (CEB) of the United Nations decided to establish a High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Global Food Crisis, under the leadership of the Secretary-General which brought together the Heads of the United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, Bretton Woods institutions and relevant parts of the UN Secretariat. (UN Press Release)
The idea is to provide governments a statistical framework with which they can generate local food aid policy. This framework is designed to:
1) address the current threats and opportunities resulting from food price rises
2) create policy changes to avoid future food crises; and 3) contribute to country, regional and global food and nutritional security. While the CFA is the agreed product of the HLTF, it has been widely consulted with other parts of the UN system, international experts, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). (Ibid)
One of the goals of the UN initiative is to beef up food production around the world and generate both sustainable food production, in addition to ensuring that agriculture remains a viable means to generate income for many of the world's poorest people. The UN initiative is a two-pronged venture.
The first set focuses on meeting the immediate needs of vulnerable populations. The second set builds resilience and contributes to global food and nutrition security. (UN HIGH-LEVEL TASK FORCE ON THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS, "Comprehensive Framework for Action," July, 2008)
The US Conference of Mayors generated 21 city survey which collected data from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008. The survey found that:
Twenty cities (95 percent) reported an increase in the demand for emergency food assistance over the past year, one city reported that demand stayed the same and four cities were not able to answer this question.
· All 21 cities with available data cited an increase in the number of persons requesting food assistance for the first-time. The increase was particularly notable among working families.
· Cities reported an 18 percent average increase in the demand for emergency food assistance and a 5 percent average increase in the quantity of food distributed. The increase in demand for food assistance exceeded the increase in the amount of food distributed in eighty percent of the cities surveyed.
· Nine cities reported making significant changes to the types of food they purchased over the last year because of increases in food prices. Thirteen cities reported that food pantries had to turn people away, and sixteen cities reported that food pantries were reducing the amount of food clients could receive at each visit.
· When asked to anticipate their biggest challenges for 2009, nearly every city cited an expected increase in demand resulting from the weak economy coupled with high prices for food and fuel.
· Nineteen cities (83 percent) reported an increase in homelessness over the past year. On average, cities reported a 12 percent increase.
· Twelve cities (63 percent) reported an increase in homelessness because of the foreclosure crisis. However, most cities did not have enough data to quantify the extent of the increase. The tenants of rental units in buildings where the landlord faced foreclosure were the most vulnerable to becoming homeless. (My emphasis)
All but one of the cities surveyed had developed or was developing a ten-year plan to end homelessness. Three quarters of these plans (75 percent) focused not just on ending homelessness for chronically homeless disabled adults but also on preventing family homelessness. ((US Conference of Mayors, "Hunger and Homelessness Survey" December, 2008)
It is clear that something other than running soup kitchens, food pantries and poorly funding Food Stamp Programs must be done. If Food Stamps, soup kitchens and food pantries are inadequate to provide food security to the nation's poor, unemployed and destitute, then we must come up with another model for food security.
