Rising food prices are changing what we eat, according to Oxfam

Australians and people around the world are changing what they eat because of the rising cost of food, according to a new global survey released by international aid agency Oxfam as part of its new campaign GROW.

62% of Australians surveyed are no longer eating the same foods they did two years ago and 39% of them attributed this to rising food prices.

The survey was conducted by international research consultancy GlobeScan and involved 16,000 people in 17 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, UK and the USA.

Globally, 54% of overall respondents surveyed said they are not eating the same food as they did two years ago - the period before the current food price crisis began - and 39% of those who said their diet had changed blamed the rising price of food.

Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said he hoped the findings would start a debate about how we grow and share food so everyone has enough to eat in a world where one in seven people are going hungry.

“Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures and one of our most fundamental human rights, but our diets are changing fast and for too many people it is a change for the worst,” Hewett said.

“Large numbers of people in Australia and 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.”

The GlobeScan survey found the two most important factors concerning Australians about what they eat are the cost of food and how healthy and nutritious it is.

Separate interviews conducted by Oxfam in Australia revealed interesting consumer trends including a high proportion of Australians growing some of the food they eat.

Similar additional interviews conducted by Oxfam overseas provide further anecdotal 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.