The unsettling food crisis brought by climate change

We saw an apple price hike in spring, and now that autumn has arrived, the price of Korean cabbage is surging. The so-called "golden apples" and "golden cabbages" result from poor harvests caused by erratic weather patterns such as heat waves and heavy rains. Korea is not alone in witnessing this so-called phenomenon of "heatflation," where rising temperatures lead to reduced production and higher raw material costs. As the Earth heats up, the production of olives and cocoa plummeted this year, leading to soaring prices and affecting various food products.

What's worse, the decline in food production will likely occur more frequently worldwide. The “2024 Global Food Crisis Report” published by the World Food Programme noted that some 57 million people in 12 countries in 2022 and 77 million people in 18 countries in 2023 suffered from severe food insecurity due to climate change.

The bad news might not be so acutely felt in Korea, where food is still easily accessible in both online and offline markets despite higher grocery prices. However, many experts warn that Korea may be one of those countries with a severe food crisis if no prompt countermeasures are established and taken.

Korea's food self-sufficiency rate dropped to 44.4% in 2021 from 86.2% in 1970. If we exclude rice from the calculation, the rate drops further to a mere 11.4%. As of 2022, Korea's food security index stood at 39th out of 113 countries worldwide and fell within the lowest bracket among the OECD member states.

In his book titled The Sixth Mass Extinction Signal: The Food War, Special professor Nam Jae-cheol from Seoul National University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences stressed the need to seek a relevant solution because there is no guarantee in the future that we can import food at a low cost from overseas whenever we want.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN forecast that food production can plummet by as much as 30% by 2050, driving up food prices up to 50% accordingly. Key nations have already begun competing for food security. China, for example, implemented its food security guarantee program to prevent the conversion of farmland for other uses and reduce food waste among others. Foreign media outlets reported that China, the world's largest agricultural importer, is aiming to achieve self-independence by lowering its dependence on overseas food. Japan also revised its Basic Agriculture Law in 25 years to strengthen the nation's food security. Local press noted that the government sought to ensure a stable food supply by diversifying import sources and stacking up food reserves.

Korea is the 7th largest grain importer globally, relying on sources abroad for around 80% (18 million tons) of its annual domestic demand. Such dependence makes it vulnerable to rising food prices globally. The Korean Precision Agriculture Institute head Jae-jak Nam noted in his book “The Food Crisis in Korea” that food crises will no longer be concerns limited to other nations, say in Africa, but a problem Korea may face within 10 years.

It is time to formulate and execute measures to ensure a stable food supply, such as developing new varieties of grains adaptive to climate change, promoting more urban and vertical farming, and developing powdered rice made from surplus rice. Efforts from all sectors to reduce carbon emissions are also critical. If the Earth's temperature continues to rise, we will no longer be able to taste homegrown apples and cabbage in the near future.