The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Go Hungry

[BridgeTheGap]

What is the most common cause of hunger in the world? Is it drought? Flood? Locusts? Crop diseases? Nope. Most hunger in the world has absolutely nothing to do with food shortages. Most people who go to bed hungry, both in rich and in poor countries, do so in places where markets are filled with food that they cannot have.

Despite this fact, much of the discourse about reforming our food system has focused on the necessity of raising yields. Though it is true that we might need more food in coming years, it is also true that the world produces more food calories than are needed to sustain its entire population. The problem is unequal access to food, land, and wealth, and any discussion must begin not from fantasies of massive yield increases, but from the truth that the hunger of the poor is in part a choice of the rich.

Inequity and politics, not food shortages, were at the root of almost all famines in the 20th century. Brazil, for example, exported $20 billion worth of food in 2002, while millions of its people went hungry. During Ethiopian famines in the 1980s, the country also exported food. Many of even the poorest nations can feed themselves—or could in a society with fairer allocation of resources.

It can be hard to grasp the degree to which the Western lifestyle is implicated. We don’t realize that when we buy imported shrimp or coffee we are often literally taking food from poor people. We don’t realize that our economic system is doing harm; in fact, the system conspires to make it nearly impossible to figure out whether what we’re doing is destructive or regenerative.

http://www.utne.com/article.aspx?id=2147487874&utm_content=09.15.10+Politics&utm_campaign=Emerging+Ideas-Every+Day&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email

[Democrats_win]

1. "the world can not afford rich people--in any nation."

That's a quote from page 3 of the link. Ok, you do have to consider it in the context that the manipulation of the food market by the rich is causing so many people to starve.

This food situation demonstrates how much our world needs economic reform. Just think, we subsidize a lot of our most inefficient and unhealthy food industries: grains and dairy. While we don't subsidize veggies and fruits which are really healthy foods.

[DJ13]

3. consider it in the context that the manipulation of the food market by the rich

is causing so many people to starve.



And it will only get worse in the near term.

The recent reports out of the world's two biggest commodity exchanges (NYMEX and ICE) are that speculators are being encouraged to move into food commodities as the next "play" to become even wealthier.

What they did to oil in 08 they are now wanting to do with the basics of the foods the world depends on.

[xchrom]

2. bears repeating:

'Most people who go to bed hungry, both in rich and in poor countries, do so in places where markets are filled with food that they cannot have.'

[sandnsea]

4. Even in Haiti a couple years ago

Before the hurricane. It did people little good to contribute money for food because food was not the problem. The cost of food was the problem due to manufactured shortages, political goons, and poverty. If you don't get the money to agencies *IN* the country, that will get it directly to the people or who have the ability to get food, then you can easily contribute money to buy food that rots at the docks.