Food for Thought: With the Grain

A simple, well-tested method for staving off world hunger

- By Tom Philpott

WHEN RUSSIA LAUNCHED its invasion of Ukraine in February, the economic fallout could be felt thousands of miles away. Syrians saw prices for bulgur rise by as much as 44 percent within weeks; by April, in the Horn of Africa, heavily reliant on wheat imports from the Black Sea region, the cost of food staples leapt by 66 percent in Ethiopia and 36 percent in Somalia. The conflict propelled global food prices to their highest level since the United Nations started keeping track in 1961.

Add in climate chaos-more frequent droughts and megastorms in the world's key farming regions and you have a recipe for growing volatility in global food markets, at a time when up to 811 million people face chronic hunger.

It doesn't have to be this way. There's an elegant, well-tested method for buffering against these kinds of shocks. Simply put, societies can hold back a portion of durable food staples like wheat, rice, and corn during bumper harvest years, and release it when times are lean.