The Bread Revolution: Food Prices Play a Key Role in Egyptian Uprising
Time's Ecocentric blog has an interesting story about the link between rising food prices and the unfolding revolution in Egypt.
In the last few days, soaring food prices have been cited as one of the proverbial straws that led Egyptians to take to the streets in frustration over Murbarak's 30-year rule....Global wheat prices are at an all-time high, and other grains and meat prices were up over 20% by the end of 2010. Though some 40% of Egypt's 80 million residents live in poverty, high food prices don't have the same impact in Egypt that they might have in other vulnerable countries. The nation has a huge subsidy program that, when its working right, helps protect its poorest citizens from inflated food prices.
The most telling data point from the article is that bread is central to Egyptian culture and diet and they are in the unenviable position of relying heavily on imports.
In Egypt, the Arabic word for bread — "aish" — is also the world for life. Egyptians are the world's largest consumers of bread and Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer.
To make matters more tenuous, Egyptians spend a very high percentage of their incomes on food. By comparison, Americans spend around 10% of disposable income on food.
