World statesmen, actors and musicians start global conversation on food
15 June 2011 – People around the world are changing what they eat because of the rising cost of food according to a new global survey released today as part of the GROW campaign. Agriculture Ministers from the powerful group of G20 countries are meeting in France next week and will discuss the global food price crisis.
The public opinion poll was conducted in 17 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, UK and the USA.
Fifty-four per cent of respondents overall and a majority of people in most countries surveyed said they are not eating the same food as they did two years ago—the period before the current food price crisis began. Globally 39 per cent of those who said their diet had changed blamed the rising price of food and 33 per cent cited health reasons.
In Kenya, for example, a staggering 76 per cent of respondents said they have changed their diet with 79 per cent blaming the price of food and, of the 46 per cent of people who said their diet had changed in the UK, 41 per cent said it was because of the rising price of food. Similar results were found around the globe (see notes).
Cost was also by far the biggest food worry with 66 per cent of people globally citing it as one of their top concerns. 43 per cent of people said that the healthiness or nutritional value of the food they ate was also a key concern. However in poorer countries the availability of food was much more of an issue with 57 per cent of people in Kenya and 45 per cent in Tanzania citing it as one of their biggest food worries.
Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam said: “Our diets are changing fast and for too many people it is a change for the worst. Huge numbers of people, especially in the world’s poorest countries, are cutting back on the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising food prices. World leaders—especially leaders of the powerful G20 countries—must act now to fix our broken food system. They must regulate the commodity markets and reform flawed biofuels policies to keep food prices in check, and they must invest in small scale producers in developing countries and help them adapt to a changing climate.”
The survey of over 16,000 people, conducted by international research consultancy GlobeScan, also revealed how globalisation is changing what people eat with pizza and pasta topping the list of favourite foods in many countries alongside national dishes. The only exceptions were African nations where traditional meals of maize continue to hold sway.
Oliver Martin, Research Director of GlobeScan said: “The consequences of the world-wide rise in food prices are very apparent in these survey results. The cost of food is by some distance the dominant concern that people have about what they and their family eat.”
Additional interviews conducted by Oxfam provide further evidence that many people in developing countries are either eating less food, eating cheaper items or enjoying less diversity in their diets as a result of rising food prices. Women tend to be disproportionately affected by rising food prices because they are responsible for feeding their families.
Glenda Marisela Galindo Castro, a 22 year old shop assistant from Guatemala said: “Sugar used to be the most important thing for us. We added it to our coffee and to soft drinks but now we can’t because the price of sugar has gone up. Oil which used to cost 5 quetzals for half a litre now costs 8. I’m the only one who works and the wages I earn are not enough to cover my families’ needs.”
Edson James Kamba, aged 69, from Malawi said: “My favourite food is rice with beans and meat but it is very expensive. The price of food keeps going up. I would like some milk to drink but I can’t buy it. I used to have margarine and jam with bread but now I can’t afford it. When I see people on TV they are always eating very good things like meat, chicken and eggs. If I was there I would have those things. We want it but we can’t afford it.”
Oxfam’s GROW campaign is starting a global conversation on how we can grow and share food better now and in the future. High profile people involved in the debate include former President Lula of Brazil, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, musician Angelique Kidjo from Benin and actors Gael Garcia Bernal from Mexico, Kristin Davis from the US, Amr Waked from Egypt and Hai Qing from China.
Former President Lula of Brazil said: “Like many Brazilians I like nothing better than a plate of rice, beans, steak, onions and eggs. But like many in Brazil I have experienced hunger. There were many times when I woke in the morning with no bread for breakfast and nothing to look forward to for lunch. That part of my life was very important because it gave me the strength to survive and determination to fight for an end to world hunger. It’s not acceptable that a child ever goes without a daily glass of milk. It’s not acceptable that a child has less than three meals a day. These are fundamental rights.”
“Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures and one of our most basic human rights. It’s important we all get involved in the debate about how to change the way we grow and share food so everyone has enough to eat today and tomorrow. Oxfam’s GROW campaign is inviting people to join the debate now at www.oxfam.org,” said Hobbs.
Breakdown of Opinion Poll Findings on Changing Diets
In total 16,421 citizens in 17 countries, were interviewed online, by telephone and face-to-face between 6 April and 6 May 2011. The survey was conducted for Oxfam by the international research consultancy GlobeScan. The majority of the countries were surveyed online, while a few participated through telephone or face-to-face interviews. Online samples were structured to be representative of the online population in the country in question; in some countries this profile will differ from the national population profile due to lower levels of internet connectivity. Results of this research are considered accurate to within 2.1 to 4.4 per cent (depending on the country) of the true incidence in the population in question, 19 times out of 20 in each of the 17 countries.
| Country | Percentage of people who are no longer eating the same foods they did two years ago | Percentage of people who have changed their diet because of rising food prices | Percentage of people who have changed their diet because of health concerns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global | 53 | 39 | 33 |
| Kenya | 75 | 79 | 4 |
| South Africa | 69 | 37 | 47 |
| Mexico | 65 | 54 | 26 |
| Guatemala | 61 | 48 | 26 |
| Australia | 62 | 39 | 36 |
| India | 56 | 13 | 59 |
| Pakistan | 57 | 44 | 32 |
| Russia | 57 | 31 | 12 |
| USA | 55 | 31 | 49 |
| Brazil | 55 | 34 | 31 |
| Tanzania | 47 | 49 | 21 |
| Spain | 46 | 45 | 29 |
| UK | 46 | 41 | 36 |
| Ghana | 42 | 32 | 38 |
| Philippines | 42 | 26 | 56 |
| Germany | 37 | 25 | 32 |
| Netherlands | 36 | 30 | 18 |
Top ten favorite foods globally
Top 10 favorite foods globally: pasta (9 per cent), meat (6 per cent), rice (5 per cent), pizza (5 percent), chicken (5 per cent), fish and seafood (4 per cent), vegetables (3 per cent), Chinese food (2 per cent), Italian food (2 per cent) and Mexican food (2 per cent)
Top three foods by country
| Australia | Chocolate | Pasta | Steak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Lasagne | Rice/pilaf/risotto | Pasta |
| Germany | Noodles | Pizza | Pasta |
| Ghana | Fufu* | Rice | Banku* |
| Guatemala | Chicken | Pizza | Chinese |
| India | Indian | Rice/pilaf/risotto | Biryani |
| Kenya | Ugali* | Mixture | Ugali and vegetables |
| Mexico | Mexican | Chinese | Mole* |
| Netherlands | Pasta | Chinese | Pizza |
| Pakistan | Vegetables | Meat | Chicken Biryani |
| Philippines | Chicken | Filipino* | Vegetables |
| Russia | Meat | Potatoes | Salad |
| South Africa | Pasta | Pizza | Steak |
| Spain | Paella | Pasta | Rice/pilaf/risotto |
| Tanzania | Banana and meat* | Rice and meat | Rice and beans |
| UK | Steak | Pasta | Chicken |
| USA | Pizza | Steak | Chicken |
Celebrity quotes on the global conversation on food
Gael Garcia Bernal, Oxfam Ambassador and Mexican actor said:
- “My favourite food comes from the sea. In Mexico, there are amazing places where you can eat seafood—where it’s very fresh as it has just been caught. My biggest food worry is the massive exploitation of natural resources such as fish. It is shocking to realise how much the price of fish has risen lately. The way that industrialised fishing operates is terrible. There aren’t many places where fishing is done in a way which protects fish stocks for future generations.
- “There shouldn’t be a single hungry person—let alone 1 billion—in a world which is capable of feeding us all. With decades of progress against hunger swinging into reverse and environmental crisis putting millions more at risk we have to say enough is enough. That’s why I am supporting Oxfam’s GROW campaign in demanding that the food companies and governments who run our broken food system change the way they operate so that no one goes hungry today or tomorrow.”
Angelique Kidjo, Oxfam Ambassador and West African musician said:
- “I know what it is like to go to bed with no food in your belly because I come from a poor country and a poor family. The most we had to eat when we went to bed was some bread and some tea and there were days that went by without me having food. Being hungry isn’t funny. It is just like someone put fire in your belly. It’s a feeling I do not wish anyone to experience because it’s not human, it’s not normal, it’s not acceptable.”
- “We waste food everywhere in the world because our life is too fast. I see so much waste that it breaks my heart. I say to myself how many families could be fed with this in Africa?”
- “I am part of the GROW campaign because I want to eat good, because I have a child, because I want to be a grandmother—what are my grandchildren going to eat. I think we all have a responsibility to follow this campaign and to change our eating habits. It’s just a little thing but can make a huge impact on the future of this planet.”
- “I have many favourite foods because I love food and I love to cook. I cannot live without rice because I am African. We eat a lot of rice in Africa. Personally I love fish, rice, vegetables and plantain.”
Kristin Davis, Oxfam Ambassador and US actor said:
- “In my travels with Oxfam I have met many women producers who work the land from sunrise to sunset but are still struggling to feed their families. That’s why Oxfam’s GROW campaign to tackle the world’s food crises is so important.”
- “I recently visited a wonderful cooperative of women farmers who grow rice to supply the camps of people displaced by the earthquake. It’s a great situation where Haiti is able to supply Haitians with their own food. Previous to the earthquake a lot of food came in from outside the country. This is a cooperative where Haitians are doing the work, they are thrilled to have the jobs, they are growing their own food and they are able to sell it at market. It is the kind of thing the Grow campaign is focused on because we want countries to have self sustaining food supplies.”
Julie Goodwin, Australian cook and winner of Australian Masterchef said:
- “The important factors for me when I am choosing food for my family is that it has got to be healthy, it has got to be nutritious, I like it to be fresh, and I don’t like to serve them a lot of processed food. The other important thing for me is that it grown locally. We have grown used to things being available all year. We demand produce which is out of season and therefore it has to be shipped in. If we can learn to use what is in season then I believe that would have a positive impact on the environment and the people of the world.”
Hai Qing, Oxfam Ambassador and Chinese actor said:
- “My favourite food is natural rice from China and green vegetables. I fear that one day my kid will not get a chance to taste this kind of rice because the climate change has made the weather very unstable.”
- “It is important for my child to know there are still so many kids his age who are still suffering hunger.”
Dolf Jansen, Oxfam Ambassador and Dutch Comedian, said:
- “I come from a big family. Every evening we ate together. I have two big concerns about food. One that there already is not enough food in many parts of the world yet in my own country and in many others we are used to having enough food on the table each day and throw away far too much. It’s strange how normal it is for us to bin 10 to 20 per cent of our food because we don’t like it anymore or it’s past expiry date and in other parts of the world there isn’t enough food to eat. That irritates me. My other concern is what we eat, for example by eating meat we consume much more than others can. I find that quite worrying. The whole system cannot continue this way.”
Amr Waked, Oxfam Ambassador and Egyptian Actor said:
- “A billion people go to sleep hungry every night and the problem is getting worse. The global population is growing but food production is not keeping pace and food prices are rising. At the same time natural resources are depleting and climate change is impacting people’s ability to grow crops. It doesn’t help that up to half of all food grown either gets thrown away or left to rot.”
- “Oxfam’s GROW campaign is campaigning for a better future. GROW is a campaign for all of us who produce, buy, cook and eat food. We are all in this together. It’s easy for us to feel that solutions are out of our hands but they’re not. Every time we choose food produced safely, fairly and sustainably; every time we harvest what we’ve sown; every time we use up leftovers; and every time we press governments and companies to change their ways we’re actually helping make good things grow.”
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About Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working together in 98 countries and with partners and allies around the world to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. www.oxfam.org
About GlobeScan
GlobeScan is an international opinion research consultancy. Companies, multilateral institutions, governments, and NGOs trust GlobeScan for its unique expertise in reputation research, sustainability, and issues management. GlobeScan provides global organizations with evidence-based insight and advice to help them build strong brands, manage relations with key stakeholders, and define their strategic positioning. GlobeScan conducts research in over 90 countries, is certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard for its quality management system, and is a signatory to the UN Global Compact. Established in 1987, GlobeScan is an independent, management-owned company with offices in London, Toronto, and San Francisco. www.globescan.com
