对外经贸大学2013英译汉

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Is the world headed for a food crisis? India, Mexico and Yemen have seen food riots this year.

What’s the cause for these shortages and price hikes? Expensive oil, for the most part. The

United Nations food and Agriculture Organization （FAO） reported that, at nearly $100 a barrel,

the price of oil has sent the cost of food imports skyrocketing this year. Add in escalating

crop prices, the FAO warned, and a direct consequence could soon be an increase in global hunger

—and, as a consequence, increased social unrest. What’s more, worldwide food reserves are at their lowest in 35 years, so prices are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future. On the demand side, one of the key issues is biofuels. Biofuels, made from food crops such as corn, sugar cane, and palm oil, are seen as easing the world’s dependence on gasoline or diesel.

But when crude oil is expensive, as it is now, these alternative energy sources can also be sold

at market-competitive prices, rising steeply in relation to petroleum. With one-quarter of the

US corn harvest in 2010 diverted towards biofuel production, the attendant rise in cereal prices

has already had an impact on the cost and availability of food. Critics worry that the gold rush

toward biofuels is taking away food from the hungry. Leaders in the biofuel industry respond that

energy costs are more to blame for high food prices than biofuels. “Energy is the blood of the world, so if oil goes up then other commodities follow,” Claus Sauter, CEO of German bioenergy

firms Verbio said. Others argue that cleaner-burning biofuels could help stem the effects of

climate change, another factor identified by the FAO as causing food shortages. Analysts note

that scientists believe climate change could be behind recent extreme weather patterns, including

catastrophic floods, heat waves and drought. All can diminish food harvests and stockpiles. But

so can market forces.