Let Them Eat Bread

Many factors are at play in the ongoing Middle East protests, and while bread often goes unmentioned, Annia Ciezadlo places food prices in the spotlight. Governments in the Middle East import grain and then subsidize bread for their populations. The inexpensive bread has artificially sustained the rule by non-democratic governments, staving off unrest. In 50 years, nations went from self-sufficiency in grain production to dependence on foreign suppliers like the US with loans and grants. The International Monetary Fund urged the governments to end food subsidies, which only add to poverty by contributing to an underdeveloped agricultural sector, corruption as well as rising prices and unemployment rates. Bread has even become a symbol for democracy in several recent protests. Artificially low prices in some countries have fueled rising grain prices and food shortages throughout the world. Ciezadlo urges an end to US food aid via agricultural surpluses and development of local agricultural sectors. – YaleGlobal