Variation in food consumption
REASON: Economic Factors
Disposable income
- It is the amount of income left to an individual after taxes have been paid .
- Higher disposable income = good quality of food, healthy food, expensive food
- DCs have higher disposable income→ purchase a higher amount and variety of food→ consuming more meat and less cereals.
In china , there is an increase in disposable income → meat consumption per capita have increase. This shows that China is a LDC but it is developing very fast. LDc consists of developing countries and less developed countries.
- Increase in income have different effects has on food consumption patterns between DCs and LDCs.
-For example
For every US$1 increase in DCs will only used 20% of the income for food .However , in LDCs will use 60% of the income for food which means that LDc will have to spend more in order to get food than Dcs.
Pricing
- Increasing in food prices→people in LDCs are more affected →less disposable income .
- Food prices rose dramatically worldwide causing a global food crisis.
For example( textbook pg100)→sharp rise in food prices
- Prices increase due to shortage arising from natural disasters (flood and droughts ) which damages crops or war and conflict resulting abandonment of farms or traders manipulating stock and commodities market by artificially creating demand for food pushing the prices up.
- Financial traders speculated on food share in the stock market→the market to be dangerously volatile.
- The graph show a food price index which shows that food prices have been increasing throughout the year which makes it people difficult to consume food by paying more income .