"If food prices double, that means one meal every two days."

[midnight]

Speculators have caused hell on earth for so many.... I don't really comprehend the greed or power these folks have, but depicted in this article is a photo of a women carrying a 50 lb or more bag of rice on her head and a baby on her hip. Such an imbalance of power that creates such burdens for this women and her young child.


"When people are hungry, they only have three options – they revolt, they migrate or they die," she said, adding that it's more cost effective to prevent hunger than to deal with its consequences.

Sheeran said the funding shortfall is likely to grow, since the current figures have not taken into account another food crisis, a possibility raised by the World Bank and others.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/world-hunger-un-warning_n_810077.html

[midnight]

1. The number of hungry people, which was declining for several decades, bottomed out in the mid-1990s

With world food prices projected to continue rising, so too will the number of hungry people.

We know from studying earlier civilizations such as the Sumerians, Mayans, and many others, that more often than not it was food shortages that led to their demise. It now appears that food may be the weak link in our early twenty-first century civilization as well.

Will we follow in the footsteps of the Sumerians and the Mayans or can we change course–and do it before time runs out? Can we move onto an economic path that is environmentally sustainable? We think we can. That is what Plan B 4.0 is about.

Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Plan B aims to stabilize climate, stabilize population, eradicate poverty, and restore the economy’s natural support systems. It prescribes a worldwide cut in net carbon emissions of 80 percent by 2020, thus keeping atmospheric CO2 concentrations from exceeding 400 parts per million.

http://climateprogress.org/2009/10/13/lester-brown-new-book-plan-b-4-0-mobilizing-to-save-civilization/

[BobbyBoring]

2. We will follow

The Mayans and Sumerians if left to our own devices.

We have known about our crisis for ages but in the past, all efforts to change our ways were blocked by big oil. See "Who killed the electric car" for a good example. In the 70s, while we were waiting in lines to get gas on even and odd days (while full tankers were sitting in ports) solar energy became the buzz words. Suddenly it was like the words were removed from the dictionary, never to be spoken again.

The one good (or bad) thing in the piece is the fact the big corps like Seimens are getting involved. Maybe we can have a good old fashion green energy war.

We still have to address the climate change deniers though. As with all issues, there's a right and a wrong, but the consequences of being wrong on this one are catastrophic to say the least~