Photo Credit: Shafiq Alam / Oxfam
The Perfect Storm?
There is no single reason for the current, unprecedented rises in food prices. Instead there are a number of interwoven factors, which have coincided at the same time. It is the combination of these which have led to the recent rise in food security problems, and a growing number of people 'going to bed hungry'.
Since the writing of this unit was started, the phrase 'a perfect storm' has been picked up and used by other people to describe this situation. One of the most notable people to use the phrase was the Government's Chief Scientific adviser, Professor John Beddington, who used it in a speech in a conference on Sustainable Development in February 2009.
Activity 1: Media Comparison
Try at least two of the links below. They are all articles taken from newspapers printed on the 18 and 19 of March 2009.
The Guardian
The Independent
The Daily Mail
The Daily Telegraph
Read the articles and see if you can identify the common ground, or differences in the way that the story is reported, in so far as it might affect the readers of the newspaper. It is also worth reading the 'comments' on the Daily Mail article too, for example to get additional viewpoints. If you are familiar with the visual tool Wordle why not explore the text further with that?
To finish, watch Professor John Beddington on BBC NEWS.
How could this video be used with students? What support would be needed for it to be used as a classroom resource?
Just as there are differences between the way that the stories were reported in the newspapers, there will also be differences in the viewpoints of geography teachers preparing resources for a lesson on this topic. How important are those variations in determining the experience that students get in the classroom? This is an issue that we will return to in the plenary section.
The idea that Professor Beddington reinforced is that the current issue of global food security can be seen as a 'perfect storm'. The next part of this unit will further explore this idea.
Activity 2: What is causing the perfect storm?
 Food used for biofuel © Jane Beesley / Oxfam |
Five Factors Leading to 'The Perfect Storm' |
 Rising population © Diana Hernandez Cordero / Oxfam |
 Rising oil prices © Toby Adamson / Oxfam |
 Climate change © Shafi Alam / Oxfam |
 Changing diet © Geoff Sayer / Oxfam |
Research at least one of the five factors that are suggested above as contributing to the perfect storm.
There are connections to be made between each of the individual elements as well as the combination of them all. It is these connections which make up the possible perfect storm which Professor Beddington predicts will emerge well within the life-span of the students that you will teach in your geography lessons.
Make cards with the names and/or images of the five factors that contribute to the 'perfect storm'. Place them upside down and shuffle them.
Choose any two from the five factors and explain how they could be connected - remember to think geographically as you are doing this
Are students able to do this? How could you improve the ability of students to be able to explain the connections? What connections are most common?
Take a little time to consider what impact each of the five areas has on the formation of the final 'storm'.
Is it possible to identify a 'weighting' or rank order of importance, or are all equally important? How are each of the 5 factors related?
There is clearly plenty of geography in the factors and their connections, but where might controversy occur?
Course Units
 Introduction |
 Getting Started |
 Supermarket Shock |
 Local Food Strategies |
 Global Food Strategies |
 The Perfect Storm? |
 Food Aid |
 Getting the Message Across |
 Making a meal of it |
 Pedagogy and Thinking |
 Plenary |
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