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[[Food riots]] refer to protests, riots, and civil unrest attributed to popular outrage against food shortages and high or rising prices of food. In the 20th and 21st century, food riots occurred across the [[Middle East]] in several different countries. Immediate causes of food riots have included reduction in food subsidies, inflation, and economic stagnation. Food riots have also occurred as part of larger social movements. Food riots also figure prominently in criticism of austerity, neoliberal, and related IMF structural adjustment policies, such as during the [[1977 Egyptian Bread Riots]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Cairo calm after rioting|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JGs0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=HxMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1361,3596245&dq=food+riots+egypt&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=Star-News|date=1977-01-21}}</ref>
== Egypt ==
Egypt experienced food riots in 1977,<ref>{{cite news|title=Cairo calm after rioting|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JGs0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=HxMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1361,3596245&dq=food+riots+egypt&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=Star-News|date=1977-01-21}}</ref> 1984<ref>{{cite news|last=Ottoway|first=David B.|title=Egyptian leaders roll back food hikes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=noxaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2U8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5056,181044&dq=egypt+food+riots&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=The Courier|date=1984-10-02}}</ref> and [[2016–17 Egyptian protests|2017]].
On Sunday, October 1, 1984, Egyptians in the Kfar el-Dewar industrial outside of Alexandria rioted and fought with police for eight hours. The rioters, who were said to number in the hundreds, "pelted police with stones, overturned carts in the town market, and smashed shop windows," according to one news report.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mubarak rolls back prices after riots|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O7cSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5532,177635&dq=food+riots+egypt&hl=en|accessdate=28 April 2013|newspaper=Spokane Chronicle|date=1984-10-01}}</ref> The police reported that one person was killed, 13 people were injured, and 40 people (including police) were arrested.<ref>{{cite news|title=Egypt cuts food prices|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aNlRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TW4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4090,381919&dq=food+riots+egypt&hl=en|accessdate=28 April 2013|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post|date=1984-10-02}}</ref>
== Jordan ==
Food riots hit [[Jordan]] in 1989<ref>{{cite news|title=5 Are Killed in South Jordan as Rioting Over Food Prices Spreads|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/20/world/5-are-killed-in-south-jordan-as-rioting-over-food-prices-spreads.html|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=1989-04-20}}</ref> and 1996.<ref>{{cite news|title=Food Riots|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KjxIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=doEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3715,1661857&dq=food+riots+jordan&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=The Victoria Advocate|date=1996-08-23}}</ref> At the beginning of 1989, Jordan defaulted on debt payment to the IMF, leading it to introduce price increases between 10 and 15% In April.<ref>{{cite book|last=Piro|first=Timothy J.|title=The Political Economy of Market Reform in Jordan|year=1998|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|location=Maryland|page=89}}</ref> That month the unrest began in the southern town of [[Ma'an]] before spreading to other cities in the south of Jordan. At least four civilians and one off-duty soldier were killed and total casualties reached at least 32 people in what would come to be known as ''habbat nissan'', or the "Squalls of April".<ref>{{cite news|title=5 Are Killed in South Jordan as Rioting Over Food Prices Spreads|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/20/world/5-are-killed-in-south-jordan-as-rioting-over-food-prices-spreads.html|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=1989-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Piro|first=Timothy J.|title=The Political Economy of Market Reform in Jordan|year=1998|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|location=Maryland|page=89}}</ref> While the 1989 riots were occurring in Jordan, King Hussein gave an interview with PBS' Robert MacNeil. At the time, Hussein stated:
{{blockquote|Our economy's sound and the promise of the future is great, but nonetheless, we have had to devaluate the Jordanian dinar and recently engaged the International Monetary Fund in talks, and that providing us with the potential to reschedule our foreign debt, half of which is military and half economic. This is a result of the awful situation we found ourselves, in when promises of the Arab states did not materialize as a result of the Baghdad summit, and the size of this foreign debt is equal to the commitments that were not forthcoming.<ref>{{cite web|title=Online Focus: King Hussein|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/hussein_4-21-89.html|work=Online NewHour|publisher=PBS|accessdate=25 March 2013}}</ref> }}
== Lebanon ==
Food protests began on Thursday, August 27, 1987, in Beirut and spread to other towns over the next few days.<ref>{{cite news|last=Salam|first=Mohammed|title=Rioters protest soaring prices|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bjAaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uSQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6718,7412693&dq=beirut+food+riots&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=The Times-News|date=1987-08-29}}</ref>  Marchers in the southern town of Sidon chanted "We're hungry! We want to eat!" and protests were logged by the police in the Eastern Lebanon town of Rasheiye in the Bekaa.<ref>{{cite news|last= Hijazi|first= Ihsan A.|title=Lebanon food protests spread|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/30/world/lebanon-food-protests-spread.html|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=1987-08-30}}</ref>
Occurring 12 years and 120,000 deaths into the [[Lebanon Civil War]], the onset of the riots coincided with that day's record fall of the value of the Lebanese pound against the dollar  to 300 to 1. The falling exchange rate had considerable repercussions at a time when Lebanon imported 85% of its basic needs.<ref>{{cite news|last=Salam|first=Mohammed|title=Rioters protest soaring prices|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bjAaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uSQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6718,7412693&dq=beirut+food+riots&hl=en|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=The Times-News|date=1987-08-29}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of food riots]]
{{Portal bar|Society|History|Food}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |title=Free farkets and food riots: The Politics of global adjustment |year=1994 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-0631182474 |author-link=John K. Walton |author-link2=David Seddon |last1=Walton |first1=John K. |last2=Seddon |first2=David}}
{{refend}}
[[Category:Food riots]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Jordan]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Egypt]]