Britain calls on Fukuda to tackle rising food costs

Friday 11th April, 05:28 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

Latest 15 of 28 Total Comments Show All

mareo2 at 02:01 PM JST - 11th April

Right now, remember a new here on JT about the LDP gov buying excess production from J farmers and dumping it on the sea for keep prices high.
cleo at 02:09 PM JST - 11th April

notimpressed - You'd be more impressed by folk having starvation forced on them?
jerseyboy at 02:13 PM JST - 11th April

PM Brown must have missed JT yesterday. If he had he would have realized that bringing up the subject of rising food costs, in a country where someone just paid 200,000 yen for a pair of mangos, is sheer folly. Prices here have no basis in reality, so expecting a Japanese person to understand this topic is foolish. Now, if they were talking about the rising prices of LV handbags, that would be something right up Japan's alley.
Notginger at 03:51 PM JST - 11th April

MacSoylentGreenBurger!!!
notimpressed at 03:59 PM JST - 11th April

hehe...nutsagain, I never even knew you were a vegetarian, so why would I have been referring to you. The suggestion about it being a religeon was meant as tongue in cheek. and your subesequent overreaction kind of shows how your choice in what you eat defines you so much that you have some kind of line drawn in the sand between you and 'meat eaters', I eat meat, yup, and other stuff too, I also eat vegetables. I would never assume to tell you to eat meat, so dont presume to lecture someone about vegetarianism, thats what make you look like a jehovahs witness trying to convince every one of thier beliefs. As for feeding the world, there is more than enough food in the world, except we are so divided and greedy as a species that we cant feed each other. While one country starves another is overweight, and another is washing half a plae of leftovers down the waste diposal. High prices of food rarely reflect real value of what a farmer recieves for thier crops. MOst of the price is in packaging, marketing, and paying executives if it comes throug a big company. And all these people paying exorbitant prices in restaurants, and spending rediculopus amounts of money on specialised items, and then talk about feeding the world, well all that money and food is wasted on you. Elevating food to an artform, we seem to have forgotten before we became so 'advanced', we still knew we just another link in the food chain, and that food was all about keeping alive. Now if you are starving and theres only plants around that are inedible and indigestable to a human( as we are not true herbivores), and you see a lizard or small animal run by, you wouldnt eat it? No youd die rather than eat an animal. I wouldnt die before I ate a plant.
nutsagain at 04:22 PM JST - 11th April

notimpressed: I take your post as 'notimpressed-in-extremis', therfore below what I'd hoped is your normal standards? Meat-eaters really must get over these silly arguments of; "I'd rather starve than eat a whatever?" It's nothing other than a failure in logical thinking, aka fallacy, which so often is one short step from rhetoric. If I'm hungry enough, I'd eat bloody anything... Happy?
notimpressed at 06:13 PM JST - 11th April

Its not a failure in logical thinking or a fallacy, its quite logical line of reason that we eat to survive. I dont want to single out vegetarians, let me make that clear, Its not really the issue, and You are taking yourself too seriously. Like I said, its not up to me what you eat, and vice-versa floats too. My favourite vegetarians are the ones that dont hold a grudge against me for not being a vegetarian.

Again, please, dont take the off hand comment as literal, its not a worthy debate for either of us.I should have put a question mark in there or re-worded it. My apologies mate.

The issue of people starving to me is that wealthier nations have a surplus of food, while other people are eating just about anything to survive. They are not wasting thier dying breath over whether or not a fish or potatoe has feelings before they divide it between ten of them.

Moderator: Readers, please stay on topic. The pros and cons of vegetarianism are not relevant to this discussion. The subject is food prices.
nutsagain at 06:36 PM JST - 11th April

notimpressed, you're quite right about the wanton waste in the form of over-packaging and jerseyboy also is on the mark with his comments about the misguided values many people here at least, have about food sold for dizzy sums. And for what? To impress...

It all makes me think we're on the brink of massive food problems as now enough rice cannot be worldwide. Thailand now has an acute rice shortage with many farmers carrying shotguns to deter thieves.

Food wise, water wise we're all about to live in very interesting times...
notimpressed at 06:50 PM JST - 11th April

yup, u got it nuts, Humanities "development" has outstripped its ability to support itself. But, as we are, I believe, a part of the eco_system, it will balance itself out, unfortunately at the cost of lives. Water wars have been predicted for some time now, and there never was an argument against that likelyhood. Perhaps we need something like the seedbanks, but more pre-emptive. ie. The worlds nations get together and set aside areas for hydroponic farms that require less land, inject as much technology into it to make it as efficient as possible, and make it a part of all countries tax to contribute to its maintenance costs, and the costs of distributing the produce. If only we could get all the warmongers and shootemups, and put them on a rock in space to duke it out untill thier hearts are content, we could focus on a society that doesnt struggle to feed the majority of its people, and can focus on developing other areas of interest other than basic survival and profit and power. We are either on the verge of an enlightenment or of self destruction/stagnation/ backwards slide into feudal darkages. I dont believe humanity can progress at this tooth and claw rate for much longer. *notimpressed is not impressed with humanity in general.
notimpressed at 09:16 PM JST - 11th April

dearest moderator, you came in with that one a bit late. We already figured that out all by ourselves and got things squarely back on track without help.
nutsagain at 09:36 PM JST - 11th April

we did indeed...
Sarge at 09:49 PM JST - 12th April

Cleo - "What's that ( Le Big Mac ) got to do with food?"

Har!
thepossum at 10:44 PM JST - 12th April

"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on his Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda on Thursday to devise an international strategy to tackle rising food prices."

I'd like to nominate Mr. Brown for the ridiculous request of the year to date ! Good god ! Why not just ask the town drunk to manage the local liquor store ? Or how's 'bout we get some convicted fire bug to maintain the engines at the city fire department ? Better yet, lets find out if some homeless guy wants to take over the loan department at Ishihara Ginko ! Talk about ignorant suggestions !

Why on earth would any politician suggest that Japan lead the way

"to devise an international strategy to tackle rising food prices."

Is there any evidence out there that would suggest that Japan has been able to handle it's own rising food prices ? Or the fact that Japan has some of the highest prices in the world due to:

-closed markets. -an aggressive stance by politicians and media outlets toward foreign food producers. -well organized campaigns to criticise and hinder distribution of foreign food stuffs. -policies that reduce farm yield by local farmers, including the blatant destruction of crops. -various laws and signed treaties designed to protect local industries at the expense of high consumer prices. -failures to properly define and track food products through the distribution chain. -Scandal after scandal that leads to litigation and fines to major food producers, which in turn is passes on the costs to consumers.

Knowing all these facts as well as many of us do here in Japan, if serious, this has got to be one of the most blindly directed requests known in recent history. damn funny !
realist at 04:42 PM JST - 13th April

British Prime Minister calls on Japan to help lower food prices. Gordon Brown should realise that food prices n japan are lower than in the UK, and one of the chief reasons for the hugh prices is the cost of oil. British people are taxed to death by the Labour Government led by Brown. As Chancellor, he raised taxes every year he was in Office - especially Gasoline/Petrol Tax. For his to call on japan to help with risih\ng food prices is nauseating, he should resign and call a General Election so that the people can give him the boot he so richly deserves.
Nessie at 02:29 AM JST - 17th April

Is there any evidence out there that would suggest that Japan has been able to handle it's own rising food prices ?

They certainly have handled the prices. Fingerprints all over them. Manhandled.