Threat - 1
Food Insecurity
The right time to eat is: for a rich man when he is hungry, for a poor man when he has something to eat.
-Mexican Proverb
Starving Billion - A Scandal For Humanity
According to the United Nations, around 950 million people are malnourished or starving in the world today and 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.
Attention of mankind has been diverted from necessities to luxuries. There are thousands and millions of products like cars, computers, ipods, aeroplanes, TV channels, luxury yatchs, Caribbean vacations, palatial homes, video phones, designer clothes, designer drugs, cosmetic surgery, so on and so forth which are vying for our attention. In US, only 1% of population is engaged in agriculture. Agriculture everywhere else also is a pretty much neglected affair. The result is a serious global food crisis.
Attention of mankind has been diverted from necessities to luxuries. There are thousands and millions of products like cars, computers, ipods, aeroplanes, TV channels, luxury yatchs, Caribbean vacations, palatial homes, video phones, designer clothes, designer drugs, cosmetic surgery, so on and so forth which are vying for our attention. In US, only 1% of population is engaged in agriculture. Agriculture everywhere else also is a pretty much neglected affair. The result is a serious global food crisis.
Food Crisis Looms Over 33 Nations
Thirty-three countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, are experiencing 'very serious' to 'grave' food supply problems. The German food relief group Welthungerhilfe and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have warned against neglecting the fate of starving people amidst the current financial crisis.
There is something called annual Global Hunger Index (GHI) which is prepared by the two aforesaid organizations. The GHI index lists 88 countries' food supply situation, with 33 countries chiefly from Asia and Africa in the lower positions. The country with the gravest food situation is Congo.
There is something called annual Global Hunger Index (GHI) which is prepared by the two aforesaid organizations. The GHI index lists 88 countries' food supply situation, with 33 countries chiefly from Asia and Africa in the lower positions. The country with the gravest food situation is Congo.
Food insecurity exists when all people, at all times, do not have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
In view of the current financial crisis, it will be very difficult to mobilise long-term investments required for the urgently needed expansion of agriculture in developing countries. Current financial crisis is a very bad news for the world's hungry.
The GHI index is a compilation based on three chief criteria including the share of undernourished in the population, the number of children below the age of five who are underweight, and the mortality rate for children under five.
The GHI index is a compilation based on three chief criteria including the share of undernourished in the population, the number of children below the age of five who are underweight, and the mortality rate for children under five.
Africa May Be Able To Feed Only 25% Of Its Population By 2025
According to the experts present at an United Nations University (UNU) conference on desertification in Algiers, Africa may be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025 if soil degradation on the continent continues at its current pace,
Karl Harmsen, Director of UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, said that should soil conditions continue to decline in Africa, nearly 75% of the continent could come to rely on some sort of food aid by 2025.
Harmsen's comments come as some 200 delegates from 25 countries convene at the December 17-19 meeting in Algiers to discuss the causes and consequences of desertification, a threat that puts an estimated 2 billion people at risk of becoming "environmental refugees". The U.N. warns that climate change could worsen the situation by depriving populations living in arid regions of adequate water supplies. Christian Aid has estimated that an average global temperature increase exceeding 3ºC could cause 182 million deaths in Africa this century and leave 750 million additional hungry people in Africa and Asia.
Thus looming desertification could spawn millions of environmental refugees
Karl Harmsen, Director of UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, said that should soil conditions continue to decline in Africa, nearly 75% of the continent could come to rely on some sort of food aid by 2025.
Harmsen's comments come as some 200 delegates from 25 countries convene at the December 17-19 meeting in Algiers to discuss the causes and consequences of desertification, a threat that puts an estimated 2 billion people at risk of becoming "environmental refugees". The U.N. warns that climate change could worsen the situation by depriving populations living in arid regions of adequate water supplies. Christian Aid has estimated that an average global temperature increase exceeding 3ºC could cause 182 million deaths in Africa this century and leave 750 million additional hungry people in Africa and Asia.
Thus looming desertification could spawn millions of environmental refugees
They say that a worldwide survey was conducted by the United Nations. The only question asked was: "Would you please give your opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a massive failure, because:
in Africa, they didn't know what 'food' meant;
in Europe, they didn't know what 'shortage' meant;
in China, they didn't know what 'opinion' meant;
in the Middle East, they didn't know what 'solution' meant;
in South America, they didn't know what 'please' meant;
and in the United States, they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant.
Food Rationing Confronts US, The Breadbasket of the World
Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, in year 2008 confronted a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers across the country limited purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstripped supply. There were also reports of consumers panic buying and hoarding stocks.
In different parts of the US, frustrated shoppers were seen uttering expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.
In different parts of the US, frustrated shoppers were seen uttering expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.
"Where's the rice? You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."
-Yajun Liu (engineer from Palo Alto, Calif. while shopping in Wal-mart)
Many shoppers seemed headed for disappointment, as they were being allowed to buy only one bag. Commotion was witnessed at many stores when clerks took away rice bags from customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap. Several Wal-marts displayed the sign "Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history."
saka-mulamisa-ksaudra
phala-puspasti-bhojanah
anavrstya vinanksyanti
durbhiksa-kara-piditah
Harassed by famine and excessive taxes, people will resort to eating leaves, roots, flesh, wild honey, fruits, flowers and seeds. Struck by drought, they will become completely ruined.“
-Srimad Bhagavatam 12.2.9
Limits were also imposed on purchases of oil and flour. Bakery owners flocked warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.
The curbs and shortages were tracked with concern by survivalists who viewed the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.
The curbs and shortages were tracked with concern by survivalists who viewed the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.
Monster of Commercial Farms - Rising Out of Ashes of Small Farms
Family farms have been the core of agrarian culture for thousands of years, providing the opportunity to connect with the land and to live in tune with the seasons and the weather. Traditional farmers don't produce more than the carrying capacity of the land. They understand the condition of the soil and its ability to sustain various crops from season to season. They commonly produce and save their own seeds, a practice that has helped small farms maintain the integrity of crops, and allow hardier, diverse strains of plants to prosper. Contrasting this, industrial farms use a few strains of high yielding crops, an approach that threatens genetic diversity and often leads to chemical dependency.
Small farms help to create close-knit communities and thriving local economies. Various rural institutions, ranging from banks to equipment and feed suppliers, are created to support farming, and family farmers support the local community by hiring and buying inputs locally rather than contracting to an outside supplier. Family farm dollars paid to equipment dealers, grocery stores, and gas stations re-circulate throughout the local economy, strengthening it.
Small farms help to create close-knit communities and thriving local economies. Various rural institutions, ranging from banks to equipment and feed suppliers, are created to support farming, and family farmers support the local community by hiring and buying inputs locally rather than contracting to an outside supplier. Family farm dollars paid to equipment dealers, grocery stores, and gas stations re-circulate throughout the local economy, strengthening it.
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They are now killing animal, but animal lives on this grass and grains. When there will be no grass, no grains, where they will get animal? They’ll kill their own son and eat. That time is coming. Nature’s law is that you grow your own food. But they are not interested in growing food. They are interested in manufacturing bolts and nuts. |
Large scale farms tend to bypass the local economy, buying their inputs and marketing their products largely outside of the community. Industrialized farming also negates the traditional sense of community - a place where people share values, interests and work. Rather than creating healthy, sustainable employment, these operations tend to create dangerous, low-paying jobs. The rise of factory farms, along with the decline of family farms, often signals the degradation of rural communities.
Short term efficiency and profitability, rather than long term sustainability drives the factory farming model. It externalizes costs, such as pollution clean up and health care services, onto others in the community. Neighbors of industrial operations have experienced health problems ranging from chronic asthma to neurological damage, and they have watched property values plummet.
Short term efficiency and profitability, rather than long term sustainability drives the factory farming model. It externalizes costs, such as pollution clean up and health care services, onto others in the community. Neighbors of industrial operations have experienced health problems ranging from chronic asthma to neurological damage, and they have watched property values plummet.
Rising Temperatures - Threat To Food Security
It is being warned that the most dangerous threat to future food security is the rise in temperature. Among crop ecologists there is now a consensus that for each temperature rise of 1 degree Celsius above the historical average during the growing season, there can be a 10 percent decline in grain yields.
In recent years on many occasions, crop-withering heat waves have led to major crop losses. For example, India's wheat harvest in 2007 dropped from 73 million tons to 68 million tons due to high temperatures during the crop's critical growth stage in January and February.
In recent years on many occasions, crop-withering heat waves have led to major crop losses. For example, India's wheat harvest in 2007 dropped from 73 million tons to 68 million tons due to high temperatures during the crop's critical growth stage in January and February.
They that die by famine die by inches.-Matthew Henry
Great Wheat Panic of 2007
In 2007, India’s massive purchase of nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat in the international market at record prices attracted world attention — besides domestic controversy.
This panic purchase added to what agricultural experts are calling the great wheat panic of 2007. Wheat prices had already reached record levels ahead of the Indian move, thanks to falling or stagnating production in many countries — blamed on poor weather and crop diversion. Prices went going through the roof and India’s transaction was almost stratospheric.
New Delhi paid $10.64 per bushel compared to the September 2006 price of $4.22 a bushel! For India it was a ‘must-buy-to-build-buffer-stock’ situation.
This trigger event pushed the world wheat trade into "full-panic mode". Egypt and Iraq followed the deal with large purchases, adding to price pressure at a time when global stocks were at a 30-year low. India has been an unlikely wheat importer. As the world’s second largest wheat producer at around 75 million metric tonne annually (behind China’s 96 million metric tonne), it was widely perceived to be self-sufficient in food production.
This panic purchase added to what agricultural experts are calling the great wheat panic of 2007. Wheat prices had already reached record levels ahead of the Indian move, thanks to falling or stagnating production in many countries — blamed on poor weather and crop diversion. Prices went going through the roof and India’s transaction was almost stratospheric.
New Delhi paid $10.64 per bushel compared to the September 2006 price of $4.22 a bushel! For India it was a ‘must-buy-to-build-buffer-stock’ situation.
This trigger event pushed the world wheat trade into "full-panic mode". Egypt and Iraq followed the deal with large purchases, adding to price pressure at a time when global stocks were at a 30-year low. India has been an unlikely wheat importer. As the world’s second largest wheat producer at around 75 million metric tonne annually (behind China’s 96 million metric tonne), it was widely perceived to be self-sufficient in food production.
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“We have got experience. Sometimes we find in mango season profuse mango supply. People cannot end it by eating. And sometimes there is no mango. Why? The supply is in the hand of Krsna through His agent, the material nature, this earth. The earth can produce profusely if people are honest, God conscious. There cannot be any scarcity. Therefore it is said that kamam vavarsa parjanyah [SB 1.10.4]. God gives. Eko yo bahunam vidadhati kaman. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). So God, Krsna, fulfills all our desires.” |
Green revolution which took place four decades back is now witnessing diminishing returns as the soil slowly dies from excessive use of chemicals. India’s food production stagnated years ago and it is now coming down gradually. One editorial "Panic in wheat" (Business Line, March 20, 2007) noted that "India may well end up with an additional food subsidy of Rs 8,500 crore, including the Rs 3,400 crore spent on the import of 5 million tonnes."
As a result, major wheat exporters such as US (around 60 million metric tonne annually), Canada and Australia (25 million metric tonne each) have come into play. Coincidentally, all three are major voices in the nuclear suppliers cartel. The wheat crisis, in addition to similar squeeze in food products such as corn and milk in some countries, is so severe that the UN has warned of impending food-related social tensions and political upheaval.
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation mentioned that surging prices for basic food imports such as wheat, corn and milk had the "potential for social tension, leading to social reactions and eventually even political problems." Diouf added that food prices would continue to rise because of a mix of strong demand from developing countries; a rising global population, more frequent floods and droughts caused by climate change; and the biofuel industry’s appetite for grains.
As a result, major wheat exporters such as US (around 60 million metric tonne annually), Canada and Australia (25 million metric tonne each) have come into play. Coincidentally, all three are major voices in the nuclear suppliers cartel. The wheat crisis, in addition to similar squeeze in food products such as corn and milk in some countries, is so severe that the UN has warned of impending food-related social tensions and political upheaval.
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation mentioned that surging prices for basic food imports such as wheat, corn and milk had the "potential for social tension, leading to social reactions and eventually even political problems." Diouf added that food prices would continue to rise because of a mix of strong demand from developing countries; a rising global population, more frequent floods and droughts caused by climate change; and the biofuel industry’s appetite for grains.
Peak Grain - Forget Oil, Worry About Food
World is witnessing major price hikes in food, as ‘peak grains’ join the lineup of lifestyle-changing events along with peak oil and peak water. All societies more complex than hunter-gatherers depend on agriculture to survive. This fundamental fact is easily ignored in shopping centers of giant urban metropolises, but the advent of electronic technology, petroleum combustion and globalized economies does not reduce the need for someone, somewhere to grow the food that all of us eat.
Now that Peak Oil and climate change are no longer distant concerns but are the reality of daily events, the impact of these twin crises upon the global food supply is an urgent situation without precedent in history. Peak Oil threatens to remove key energy inputs for industrial agriculture and climate change is starting to destabilize growing conditions that make large scale food production possible. This was experienced in 1973 when abysmally low inventories of wheat and an Arab-Israeli war sparked off an oil embargo, runaway global inflation, and upheavals that have scarred societies till today.
The world’s is ever-decreasing number of farmers do not produce enough staple grains to feed the world. That is a crisis of quiet desperation over the past decade for the 15,000 people who die each day from hunger-related causes. It is also about to cause a problem for people who assumed that the sheer unavailability of food basics, usually seen as a problem of dire poverty, would never cause a problem for them. People in rich nations are also now waking up to possibilities of food shortages.
Now that Peak Oil and climate change are no longer distant concerns but are the reality of daily events, the impact of these twin crises upon the global food supply is an urgent situation without precedent in history. Peak Oil threatens to remove key energy inputs for industrial agriculture and climate change is starting to destabilize growing conditions that make large scale food production possible. This was experienced in 1973 when abysmally low inventories of wheat and an Arab-Israeli war sparked off an oil embargo, runaway global inflation, and upheavals that have scarred societies till today.
The world’s is ever-decreasing number of farmers do not produce enough staple grains to feed the world. That is a crisis of quiet desperation over the past decade for the 15,000 people who die each day from hunger-related causes. It is also about to cause a problem for people who assumed that the sheer unavailability of food basics, usually seen as a problem of dire poverty, would never cause a problem for them. People in rich nations are also now waking up to possibilities of food shortages.
Hunger is sharper than the sword.
-Francis Beaumont
World Cupboard Has 57 Days Supply of Grains
Whenever there is a shortfall in the amount of food produced in any given year, it is possible to dip into an international cupboard or reserve of grains (wheat, rice and corn, for example) left over from previous years of good harvests. Tabs have been kept on the size of that reserve by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since the end of World War II but recent figures revealed that the international cupboard or "reserve" of grains (wheat, rice and corn, for example), is now at its lowest point since the early 1970s. This is the outcome of a nasty agriculture policy which is all about finding ways to raise prices by getting rid of farm surpluses and not about feeding people.
The world’s grain reserves are now at its lowest point since the early 1970s. There is enough in the cupboard to keep people alive on basic grains for 57 days. Two months of survival foods is all that separates mass starvation from drought, plagues of locusts and other pests, or wars and violence that disrupt farming, all of which are more plentiful than food.
The world’s grain reserves are now at its lowest point since the early 1970s. There is enough in the cupboard to keep people alive on basic grains for 57 days. Two months of survival foods is all that separates mass starvation from drought, plagues of locusts and other pests, or wars and violence that disrupt farming, all of which are more plentiful than food.
"Modern agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food. Without Petroleum we will not be able to feed the global population.”
-Professor Albert Bartlett
To put the 57 days in historical perspective, the world price for wheat went up six-fold in 1973, the last time reserves were this low. Then there are two other pressing demands for grains that were not as forceful during the 1970s, feedstock for ethanol and livestock feed. Wealthy nations are converting grains into fuel and meat while others are starving.
Historians will also recall that 1970s food prices went up alongside price hikes for oil, contributing to the runaway inflation that defined the decade’s economic challenge. The 1970s experience shows that seemingly small blips in food reserves and availability can lead to major shocks in the economy and society.
Even modest price changes can carry a big wallop especially in a world that is already suffering from crisis-overload. For a third of the world is people who subsist on less than two dollars a day, pennies can make a life and death difference. A garden on top of every garage, a veggie stew in every pot, we might see this and more in the years ahead.
Historians will also recall that 1970s food prices went up alongside price hikes for oil, contributing to the runaway inflation that defined the decade’s economic challenge. The 1970s experience shows that seemingly small blips in food reserves and availability can lead to major shocks in the economy and society.
Even modest price changes can carry a big wallop especially in a world that is already suffering from crisis-overload. For a third of the world is people who subsist on less than two dollars a day, pennies can make a life and death difference. A garden on top of every garage, a veggie stew in every pot, we might see this and more in the years ahead.
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At the press conference in Hyderabad one reporter asked right away whether Srila Prabhupada was an advaita (monistic) or dvaita (dualist) philosopher. Srila Prabhupada scoffed at the question. "What is the point of discussing such things -- whether one is dvaita or advaita. Krsna says, annad bhavanti bhutani: 'All living beings subsist on food grains' Annad means grains. The people have no grains. Grains are produced from rain, and the rain from yajna (sacrifice).' So perform yajna. Become Krsna conscious. Dvaita or advaita you may be, but you still need grains. |
Australia - Going Down On Droughts
Australia is one of the major producers of food and in recent years, reports suggest falling food production.
The latest report from a government forecasting body has described the nation’s key winter crops of being in the grip of a severe drought, one which will whip more than $6 billion off farm production, and the bureau of agricultural and resource economics has made another substantial cut in its estimates of production from the nation’s major crops of wheat, barley and canola, only one month after its last forecast.
The failure of the Australian grains crop further reduces the worlds food stock piles. The “drought” in Australia is a symptom of a major redistribution of rainfall within Australia. Rainfall has decreased in the South East in many areas by half.
The latest report from a government forecasting body has described the nation’s key winter crops of being in the grip of a severe drought, one which will whip more than $6 billion off farm production, and the bureau of agricultural and resource economics has made another substantial cut in its estimates of production from the nation’s major crops of wheat, barley and canola, only one month after its last forecast.
The failure of the Australian grains crop further reduces the worlds food stock piles. The “drought” in Australia is a symptom of a major redistribution of rainfall within Australia. Rainfall has decreased in the South East in many areas by half.
Short-term, Frivolous Approach To The Crisis - A Case Study
Our shortsighted politicians have their own answers to the food crisis - irresponsible and frivolous political maneuvers.
Let us take the case of Andhra Pradesh, India. Average farmer is going through a harrowing time. Duty of political leaders in such situation is to help the farmers become more self-reliant, and make the agriculture a more viable and sustainable profession. Instead they have come out with their own solution - Rs 2 (4 cents) a kilo rice scheme. These gimmicks do nothing to help the situation because earth can not be fooled. Leaders, unable to rein in food prices, are utilizing the food crisis to serve their electoral populism.
Let us take the case of Andhra Pradesh, India. Average farmer is going through a harrowing time. Duty of political leaders in such situation is to help the farmers become more self-reliant, and make the agriculture a more viable and sustainable profession. Instead they have come out with their own solution - Rs 2 (4 cents) a kilo rice scheme. These gimmicks do nothing to help the situation because earth can not be fooled. Leaders, unable to rein in food prices, are utilizing the food crisis to serve their electoral populism.
“Hunger is the best pickle.”
-Benjamin Franklin
The Government has launched the subsidised rice scheme— offering a poor family 20 kg at Rs 2 a kilo—on Ugadi, Telugu New Year’s Day, and it has been clearly done with an eye on the assembly elections less than a year away.
While the Chief Minister kickstarted the scheme in the backward Mahbubnagar district, his ministers, legislators, MPs and party leaders took up the baton at 41,884-odd fair price shops across the state. Legislators of other parties, too, participated in the launch in their constituencies as the Rs 2-a-kilo rice scheme is known to fetch rich political dividends as a potential vote grabber. The government directed the officials to ensure that the rice reached the eligible alone and did not get diverted to the open market.
The rival party was distraught by the government’s move. “This is a publicity stunt to cover up the Government’s failure in controlling prices and is bound to boomerang in the next elections,” thundered the opposition leader.
While the Chief Minister kickstarted the scheme in the backward Mahbubnagar district, his ministers, legislators, MPs and party leaders took up the baton at 41,884-odd fair price shops across the state. Legislators of other parties, too, participated in the launch in their constituencies as the Rs 2-a-kilo rice scheme is known to fetch rich political dividends as a potential vote grabber. The government directed the officials to ensure that the rice reached the eligible alone and did not get diverted to the open market.
The rival party was distraught by the government’s move. “This is a publicity stunt to cover up the Government’s failure in controlling prices and is bound to boomerang in the next elections,” thundered the opposition leader.
Food Riots -The Worst Food Crisis in 45 Years
In 2008, Food riots erupted around the world. Protests occurred in Egypt, Cameroon, the Philippines, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. One Senegalese demonstrator told new reporters: "We are holding this demonstration because we are hungry. We need to eat, we need to work, we are hungry. That's all. We are hungry." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a task force to confront the problem, which threatens, he said, "the specter of widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale." The World Food Program called the food crisis the worst in 45 years, dubbing it a "silent tsunami" that would plunge 100 million more people into hunger.
The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.
-Paul Cezanne
Food riots in Haiti killed six, injured hundreds and led to the ousting of Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis. One visiting dignitary wrote that, "hunger is on the march here. Garbage is carefully sifted for whatever food might be left. Young babies wail in frustration, seeking milk from a mother too anemic to produce it."
There was a global food crisis in 1946. Then, as now, the U.N. convened a working group to deal with it. At its meeting, the head of the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, said, "Ticker tape ain't spaghetti." In other words, the stock market doesn't feed the hungry. His words remain true today.
There was a global food crisis in 1946. Then, as now, the U.N. convened a working group to deal with it. At its meeting, the head of the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, said, "Ticker tape ain't spaghetti." In other words, the stock market doesn't feed the hungry. His words remain true today.
Profiteers Squeeze Billions Out of Growing Global Food Crisis
Giant agribusinesses are enjoying soaring earnings and profits out of the world food crisis which is driving millions of people towards starvation and speculation is helping to drive the prices of basic foodstuffs out of the reach of the hungry.
The prices of wheat, corn and rice soared in 2008 driving the world's poor -- who already spend about 80 per cent of their income on food -- into hunger and destitution.
The World Bank says that 100 million more people are facing severe hunger. Yet some of the world's richest food companies are making record profits. Monsanto reported that its net income for the three months up to the end of February 2008 had more than doubled over the same period in 2007, from $543m (£275m) to $1.12 billion. Its profits increased from $1.44 billion to $2.22 billion.
Cargill's net earnings soared by 86 per cent from $553m to $1.030 billion over the same three months. And Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest agricultural processors of soy, corn and wheat, increased its net earnings by 42 per cent in the first three months of 2008 from $363m to $517m. The operating profit of its grains merchandising and handling operations jumped 16-fold from $21m to $341m.
Similarly, the Mosaic Company, one of the world's largest fertilizer companies, saw its income for the three months ending 29 February 2008 rise more than 12-fold, from $42.2m to $520.8m, on the back of a shortage of fertiliser. The prices of some kinds of fertiliser have more than tripled over the past year as demand has outstripped supply. As a result, plans to increase harvests in developing countries have been hit hard.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that 37 developing countries are in urgent need of food. And food riots are breaking out across the globe from Bangladesh to Burkina Faso, from China to Cameroon, and from Uzbekistan to the United Arab Emirates.
Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement, called the escalating earnings and profits "immoral". He said that the benefits of the food price increases were being kept by the big companies, and were not finding their way down to farmers in the developing world.
The soaring prices of food and fertilisers partly come from increasing appetites for meat, especially in India and China; producing 1 pound of beef for example, takes 21 pounds of grain. World food stocks at record lows, export bans and a drought in Australia have contributed to the crisis, but experts are also fingering food speculation.
The prices of wheat, corn and rice soared in 2008 driving the world's poor -- who already spend about 80 per cent of their income on food -- into hunger and destitution.
The World Bank says that 100 million more people are facing severe hunger. Yet some of the world's richest food companies are making record profits. Monsanto reported that its net income for the three months up to the end of February 2008 had more than doubled over the same period in 2007, from $543m (£275m) to $1.12 billion. Its profits increased from $1.44 billion to $2.22 billion.
Cargill's net earnings soared by 86 per cent from $553m to $1.030 billion over the same three months. And Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest agricultural processors of soy, corn and wheat, increased its net earnings by 42 per cent in the first three months of 2008 from $363m to $517m. The operating profit of its grains merchandising and handling operations jumped 16-fold from $21m to $341m.
Similarly, the Mosaic Company, one of the world's largest fertilizer companies, saw its income for the three months ending 29 February 2008 rise more than 12-fold, from $42.2m to $520.8m, on the back of a shortage of fertiliser. The prices of some kinds of fertiliser have more than tripled over the past year as demand has outstripped supply. As a result, plans to increase harvests in developing countries have been hit hard.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that 37 developing countries are in urgent need of food. And food riots are breaking out across the globe from Bangladesh to Burkina Faso, from China to Cameroon, and from Uzbekistan to the United Arab Emirates.
Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement, called the escalating earnings and profits "immoral". He said that the benefits of the food price increases were being kept by the big companies, and were not finding their way down to farmers in the developing world.
The soaring prices of food and fertilisers partly come from increasing appetites for meat, especially in India and China; producing 1 pound of beef for example, takes 21 pounds of grain. World food stocks at record lows, export bans and a drought in Australia have contributed to the crisis, but experts are also fingering food speculation.
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If your energy is all engaged in manufacturing tires and wheels, then who will go to the... Actually I have seen in your country. Now the farmers’ son, they do not like to remain in the farm. They go in the city. I have seen it. The farmers’ son, they do not like to take up the profession of his father. So gradually farming will be reduced, and the city residents, they are satisfied if they can eat meat. |
Moscow Considers Wheat Export Ban
Russia, the world’s fifth largest wheat exporter, is concerned about rising local bread prices and inflation and is considering a ban on cereals exports in a move that exacerbates fears that wheat prices, already at an all-time high, could surge further on reduced supplies.
Moscow is contemplating either a partial ban on wheat exports or to introduce a prohibitive export tariff to rein in foreign sales. Moscow’s concern comes as other food-exporting countries, such as Ukraine and Indonesia, try to rein in foreign sales amid rising prices.
Ukraine, the world’s sixth largest wheat exporter, introduced in June prohibitive cereal export tariffs. Indonesia, the world’s second largest palm oil exporter, recently raised to 10 per cent its export tariff on crude palm oil to cool domestic prices.
Moscow is contemplating either a partial ban on wheat exports or to introduce a prohibitive export tariff to rein in foreign sales. Moscow’s concern comes as other food-exporting countries, such as Ukraine and Indonesia, try to rein in foreign sales amid rising prices.
Ukraine, the world’s sixth largest wheat exporter, introduced in June prohibitive cereal export tariffs. Indonesia, the world’s second largest palm oil exporter, recently raised to 10 per cent its export tariff on crude palm oil to cool domestic prices.
World Food Crisis Follows Decades of Imposed Import-Dependency
Decades back, it was the notion of ‘self-sufficiency’ that drove the food policy of the nations. Subsequently, as the economic boundaries melted down during the globalization era, countries fell for the dollar lure and agriculture was commercialized or made export oriented while nations grew dependent on import of cheap food. But now it is becoming obvious that it was not a wise tradeoff. Import dependency in matters of food security is a death knell for a nation.
Global annual world grains output (grains of all kinds, including wheat, corn, barley, millet, rice, etc.) has stagnated, or declined, to around 1,900 million tons or less for the past five years , at a time when over 3,000 million tons of grains produced annually is required to ensure that dietary needs are met globally. There is something radically wrong when the total of the world's grains harvested stagnates, or drops.
The picture is even worse on a per-capita basis. For everyone to have decent daily rations, there needs to be well over 14 bushels of grains available in the world food chain per person, on average. But millions are without even their daily bread. For millions, there are fewer than 10 bushels of grain per capita in the food chain.
Global annual world grains output (grains of all kinds, including wheat, corn, barley, millet, rice, etc.) has stagnated, or declined, to around 1,900 million tons or less for the past five years , at a time when over 3,000 million tons of grains produced annually is required to ensure that dietary needs are met globally. There is something radically wrong when the total of the world's grains harvested stagnates, or drops.
The picture is even worse on a per-capita basis. For everyone to have decent daily rations, there needs to be well over 14 bushels of grains available in the world food chain per person, on average. But millions are without even their daily bread. For millions, there are fewer than 10 bushels of grain per capita in the food chain.
Production Is Below 1980s Level of Use
An indication of just how low annual grains output is, is that production is below the average utilization level of the 1980s. Today's global grains output of about 1,900 million tons a year, means that annual grains output is dropping below the level of yearly global grains utilization (for direct human consumption, livestock feed, seed, and all other uses) which existed for several years in the 1980s. This means that more and more people don't have the food they need. And whatever stocks of grains were on hand in recent years as carryover from harvest to harvest or reserves for emergencies, have been, relatively speaking, wiped out. Only in exceptional places, such as India, are there, at present, significant reserves.
Today, world grains carryover stocks are at the same absolute levels they were 20 years ago. Stocks have dropped from 460-490 million metric tons in the late 1980s, down to less than 250 million tons projected for year-end 1995—the level of stocks in 1969.
The only reason that there are stocks reported at all is that consumption itself (for livestock feed, cereals consumption, etc.) is declining. This has been apparent for the past few years.
Today, world grains carryover stocks are at the same absolute levels they were 20 years ago. Stocks have dropped from 460-490 million metric tons in the late 1980s, down to less than 250 million tons projected for year-end 1995—the level of stocks in 1969.
The only reason that there are stocks reported at all is that consumption itself (for livestock feed, cereals consumption, etc.) is declining. This has been apparent for the past few years.
If this grains gap is obvious on the crude scale of world tonnage statistics, it is even more manifest at the local level, where there are millions of undernourished people at points of need around the globe.
Thus, the situation in grains production and shortages is a good marker of the overall food crisis. Dozens of countries, with millions of people, have gone from national self-sufficiency in basic grains, to dependency on imports or donated cereals aid. And now the grain isn't there. The adjacent figure shows the decline in annual global food aid in grains from the World Food Program over the past 10 years, from a peak of 15 million tons, down to little more than 7 million tons in 2008.
Thus, the situation in grains production and shortages is a good marker of the overall food crisis. Dozens of countries, with millions of people, have gone from national self-sufficiency in basic grains, to dependency on imports or donated cereals aid. And now the grain isn't there. The adjacent figure shows the decline in annual global food aid in grains from the World Food Program over the past 10 years, from a peak of 15 million tons, down to little more than 7 million tons in 2008.
Decline in National Food Self-sufficiency
Most of the countries in the world are slipping from self-sufficiency into import dependency.
13 nations specified in National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM-200), prepared under Henry Kissinger in 1974, were analyzed with regards to food self-sufficiency.
By 1990, there were significant drops in food self-sufficiency over the prior 27-year period. In 1963, Mexico was 100% self-sufficient in grains output; it was a grains-exporting nation. As of 1990, Mexico was only 79% self-sufficient, i.e., a grains importing nation. The situation is even worse today.
13 nations specified in National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM-200), prepared under Henry Kissinger in 1974, were analyzed with regards to food self-sufficiency.
By 1990, there were significant drops in food self-sufficiency over the prior 27-year period. In 1963, Mexico was 100% self-sufficient in grains output; it was a grains-exporting nation. As of 1990, Mexico was only 79% self-sufficient, i.e., a grains importing nation. The situation is even worse today.
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The Kali-yuga people will forget performing yajna. They will be busy in ghora-rupa activities, horrible and fierceful activities, not yajna. They will neglect yajna. So then how your these bolts and nuts and rubber tires will help you? Therefore there is scarcity of anna, food grains. That will increase more and more. It will so increase that now you are getting anna by paying high price, but time will come when even if you are prepared to pay price, there will be no more grains. That time is coming. Naturally, what people will eat? They will eat mamsa (meat) and roots and seeds. No milk. No sugar. No wheat. |
Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, Brazil was about 90% self-sufficient in cereals in 1963, but dropped to 76% self-sufficient in 1990. Colombia remained about the same, staying at only 86-87% self-sufficient. Other nations in Ibero-America saw drastic declines in basic grains self-sufficiency. For example, Haiti, in 1970, was close to 95% self-sufficient; but, as of 1990, self-sufficiency had dropped down to 45%.
In Africa, Egypt was 84% self-sufficient in cereals production in 1963, and only 62% self-sufficient in 1990. Ethiopia was over 100% self-sufficient in grains supply in 1963, and dropped down to 81% self-sufficient in 1990. Nigeria remained at 99% self-sufficiency in grains the entire period but grains declined markedly as a component of the daily diet. Other locations in Africa saw drastic declines in grain self-sufficiency. For example, Algeria was 76% self-sufficient in grains in 1970; in 1990, Algeria was only 44% self-sufficient.
On the Asian subcontinent, India, which has moved from 96% in 1963 to 93% sufficiency at present, and Pakistan, has stayed at the 93-95% level. Bangladesh has gone from 106% grains self-sufficiency in 1963, down to 87%, and is subject to wide swings from year to year in grains supplies.
In Southeast Asia, wide annual swings in staple grains are also now common. In 1963, Indonesia was 89% self-sufficient in cereals; in 1990, it was 100% self-sufficient. But in several years since then, it has fallen back to rely on imports. Similarly, the Philippines stayed at 80-83% self-sufficiency levels for 1963 and 1990, but in recent years has seen growing dependency because of shortfalls in rice. Thailand, from which the cartel trading companies export many kinds of commodities (corn, livestock feed, meat, processed foods, etc.), was 159% self-sufficient in cereals in 1963, and 131% in 1990.
The United States, Canada, Australia, France, South Africa, and Argentina, these six nations together are the origin for a large percentage of the total tonnages of food products that the commodities cartels control and use to dominate world trade and food supplies
In Africa, Egypt was 84% self-sufficient in cereals production in 1963, and only 62% self-sufficient in 1990. Ethiopia was over 100% self-sufficient in grains supply in 1963, and dropped down to 81% self-sufficient in 1990. Nigeria remained at 99% self-sufficiency in grains the entire period but grains declined markedly as a component of the daily diet. Other locations in Africa saw drastic declines in grain self-sufficiency. For example, Algeria was 76% self-sufficient in grains in 1970; in 1990, Algeria was only 44% self-sufficient.
On the Asian subcontinent, India, which has moved from 96% in 1963 to 93% sufficiency at present, and Pakistan, has stayed at the 93-95% level. Bangladesh has gone from 106% grains self-sufficiency in 1963, down to 87%, and is subject to wide swings from year to year in grains supplies.
In Southeast Asia, wide annual swings in staple grains are also now common. In 1963, Indonesia was 89% self-sufficient in cereals; in 1990, it was 100% self-sufficient. But in several years since then, it has fallen back to rely on imports. Similarly, the Philippines stayed at 80-83% self-sufficiency levels for 1963 and 1990, but in recent years has seen growing dependency because of shortfalls in rice. Thailand, from which the cartel trading companies export many kinds of commodities (corn, livestock feed, meat, processed foods, etc.), was 159% self-sufficient in cereals in 1963, and 131% in 1990.
The United States, Canada, Australia, France, South Africa, and Argentina, these six nations together are the origin for a large percentage of the total tonnages of food products that the commodities cartels control and use to dominate world trade and food supplies
Growing Disinterest in Agriculture
Over 70% of the work force of the majority of nations in the world were in the agricultural sector in 1963; and during the subsequent three-decade period of increasing world food import-dependency, and poorer diets, this percentage fell to about 58%. Moreover, for most countries, this does not reflect greater agricultural productivity gains, but rather a dispossession of farm populations, and their migration into the shanty camps of urban areas.
In the United States, the percentage of the work force in agriculture dropped from 5% in 1963 to under 3% by 1990. In the six export source nations overall, the percentage of workers in agriculture dropped from 11% in 1963, down to 4.5% by 1990.
In the United States, the percentage of the work force in agriculture dropped from 5% in 1963 to under 3% by 1990. In the six export source nations overall, the percentage of workers in agriculture dropped from 11% in 1963, down to 4.5% by 1990.
Farmers’ Suicides : Indications of A Failing Agriculture In India
According to Gandhi's vision of Gram-swaraj, villages and farmers were to be the main focus of any development plan in India. As years passed, agriculture as an industry lost its importance to policy makers. Over a time, this caused severe distress among the farmers leading to recent dramatic rise in the number of suicides among farmer community. Every day in national newspaper invariably there is some news related to farmers' suicides.
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Now in black market you can get things, means eatables, rice, wheat. But if you don’t take to Bhagavad-gita, there will be no more even if you pay black price. Just time it... That time is coming. There will be no more available. There will be no milk. There will be no more sugar. There will be no more rice. There will be no more wheat. No more fruits. Then you have to eat meat. Oh, beef shop. Then that will go on. Then human shop also. Gradually it will come. You have to eat the human being also. Cannibals. So it is therefore a great necessity that rajarsayo viduh, raja, those who are government men, they must study Bhagavadgita. Otherwise don’t give them vote. |
India, consisting of 16% of world's population, sustains only on 2.4% of land resource. Agriculture sector is the only livelihood to the two-third of its population which gives employment to the 57% of work force and is a raw material source to large number of industries.
In 1990s, India woke-up to a spate of suicide among farmers community. The first state to report suicides was Maharashtra.
Since long time, Indian farmers have been facing a number of socioeconomic problems, such as harassment by moneylenders, inability to repay debts following crop losses, lack of health care etc. The problem is compounded by lack of support from banks especially in the face of inclement weather and market fluctuations. Economic plight of farmers might be illustrated with the fact that a farmer having as much as 15 acres of land and hence considered a well off farmer in Vidarbha, with an average income of Rs 2700 per acre per annum, had an income just little more than what he would have earned the legal minimum wage for all 365 days of the year.
In a country of 70 million farmers, 10 in every 100,000 are committing suicide. This is higher than the total national suicide rate. Over 16,600 farmer committed suicide in 2007 which work out to 2 suicides every hour. Farmer suicides in the country for the period 1997-2007 now total 182,936.
In 1990s, India woke-up to a spate of suicide among farmers community. The first state to report suicides was Maharashtra.
Since long time, Indian farmers have been facing a number of socioeconomic problems, such as harassment by moneylenders, inability to repay debts following crop losses, lack of health care etc. The problem is compounded by lack of support from banks especially in the face of inclement weather and market fluctuations. Economic plight of farmers might be illustrated with the fact that a farmer having as much as 15 acres of land and hence considered a well off farmer in Vidarbha, with an average income of Rs 2700 per acre per annum, had an income just little more than what he would have earned the legal minimum wage for all 365 days of the year.
In a country of 70 million farmers, 10 in every 100,000 are committing suicide. This is higher than the total national suicide rate. Over 16,600 farmer committed suicide in 2007 which work out to 2 suicides every hour. Farmer suicides in the country for the period 1997-2007 now total 182,936.
Distribution Lapses Leading To Chronic Hunger & Malnutrition - A Case Study
Many times, in spite of good crops, food fails to reach the needy due to distribution anomalies. In many parts of Africa, aid fails to reach the hungry due to corruption and war. In India, in spite of the significant progress that has been made in food production and sufficiency over the last 50 years, most rural populations/communities have had to deal with uncertainties of food security on a daily basis year after year, most often generation after generation. In aggregate, over one fifth of India‘s population suffers from chronic hunger.
This above fact makes the problem of food insecurity in India a complicated one. It highlights the fact that hunger in India is not necessarily a function of underproduction, bad monsoons or the fall in buffer stocks. In fact India finds itself in a paradoxical situation of having food grain stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) standing at an all time high of 63.1 million tonnes in July 2002 (Patnaik, 2003). This exceeds the requirements for food security by about 20 million tonnes, yet above 200 million people go hungry and about 50 million are on the brink of starvation (Goyal, 2004). The existence of food stocks above buffer requirements has not translated into availability and in 2001, a per capita availability of 151 kg per annum was lower than the level in the late 30s and around the average for the time period corresponding to World War II, which included the Bengal famine of 1943 (Patnaik, 2003)
This above fact makes the problem of food insecurity in India a complicated one. It highlights the fact that hunger in India is not necessarily a function of underproduction, bad monsoons or the fall in buffer stocks. In fact India finds itself in a paradoxical situation of having food grain stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) standing at an all time high of 63.1 million tonnes in July 2002 (Patnaik, 2003). This exceeds the requirements for food security by about 20 million tonnes, yet above 200 million people go hungry and about 50 million are on the brink of starvation (Goyal, 2004). The existence of food stocks above buffer requirements has not translated into availability and in 2001, a per capita availability of 151 kg per annum was lower than the level in the late 30s and around the average for the time period corresponding to World War II, which included the Bengal famine of 1943 (Patnaik, 2003)
Diminishing Nutrition And Denaturing of Foods
By denatured foods we mean foods that have been so altered and impaired in the processes of manufacturing, bleaching, canning, cooking, preserving, pickling, etc., that they are no longer as well fitted to meet the needs of the body as they were in the state nature prepared them.
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."
- Alex Levine.
In the Museum of Natural History (New York), is an exhibit showing the effects of soil deficiency on plant life. These plants, all of the same kind, were reared in soils lacking some element. The plants range in size from about three inches to about eighteen inches in height. Their color ranges from pale yellow to dark green. The leaves of some are broad, of others narrow. Some of the leaves are kinky. All of the plants except one is defective both in size, color and features and all except that one were raised in soil lacking some food element. For example, one was raised in a soil lacking iron, (the plant has "anemia"), another in a soil lacking potassium, another in a soil lacking nitrogen, etc.
Deficient soil means deficient food that grows on it. Humans and animals who consume such food also naturally become nutrient deficient. If essential food elements are lacking in their foods, they, like the plants in the experiments, fail and die. Ride along the highway with an experienced farmer and he will point out fertile soil and poor soil, by the vegetation growing thereon; therefore sickly and stunted children are the result of poor food.
The biggest problem with foods of the modern civilization is their so called refinement or purification. We have to eat them as the nature intended us to do. Experiments revealed that animals fed on a diet composed of purified proteins, purified starches, purified fats and inorganic salts, although they may live on these for a time, do not grow and in a short time develop various pathological conditions as a result of such "diet." If whey, or fruit juice, or vegetables are then added to the diet, the symptoms improve and the animals thrive better.
People now a days regularly consume breakfasts such as this one: a denatured cereal with white sugar and pasteurized cream, toast (white), pasteurized milk and, perhaps, bacon and eggs. Every article in this breakfast is denatured and altered chemically to a great extent. It is a predominantly acid forming breakfast and yet, the vitamin faddist will tell us only that it is lacking vitamin C or D. Our vitamin knowledge, where it is permitted to obscure all else, as is usually the case, certainly blinds so-called dietitians to some of the most important facts and principles of food science.
Except for the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat, practically everything we have on our table has had something done to it. Our milk is pasteurized, condensed, evaporated, boiled; Our sugar is the crystallized, refined and bleached sap of cane that has had all the minerals and vitamins removed from it. Our cereals are cracked, rolled, hammered, frittered, curled, flaked, ironed, roasted, twice roasted, boiled, and in other ways rendered useless. Wheat is milled, its minerals and vitamins removed, the flour is bleached and chemicalized. Its most important food elements are removed in the milling process. Our dried fruits are heated in drying, bleached with sulphur dioxide, stored for long periods of time and, finally, stewed and mixed with white sugar before being eaten.
The refining, preserving and cooking processes to which our foods are subjected destroy extraordinarily delicate and tender vital food factors. The refining and cooking processes rob foods of so much of their values that we add salt, sugar, spices, pepper and various other condiments and seasonings to them to make them palatable. Without the additions of such things they are dull, flat, insipid. Not so natural foods. Nature has placed delicate flavors and aromas in her foods that appeal to the senses of taste and smell.
A nation whose diet is made up almost wholly of such ‘foodless’ foods cannot possibly be well nourished. Why go to great lengths and much trouble to build up our soils and then take everything out of the foods that the ‘improved’ soils have put into them?
Over eighty years ago, Dr. Magendie, of Paris, starved one full pen of dogs to death by feeding them a diet of white flour and water, while another pen thrived on whole wheat flour and water. He fed another pen of dogs all the beef tea they could consume, and gave the dogs of another pen only water. The beef tea fed dogs all starved to death. The water fed dogs had lost considerable weight and would have starved also if the experiment had been continued; however, they were alive after those fed on beef tea were all dead. They were fed and all recovered.
Dogs fed on oil, gum or sugar died in four to five weeks. Dogs fed on fine (white) flour bread lived but fifty days. A goose fed on sugar in twenty-one days; two fed on starch died in twenty-four and twenty-seven days.
Deficient soil means deficient food that grows on it. Humans and animals who consume such food also naturally become nutrient deficient. If essential food elements are lacking in their foods, they, like the plants in the experiments, fail and die. Ride along the highway with an experienced farmer and he will point out fertile soil and poor soil, by the vegetation growing thereon; therefore sickly and stunted children are the result of poor food.
The biggest problem with foods of the modern civilization is their so called refinement or purification. We have to eat them as the nature intended us to do. Experiments revealed that animals fed on a diet composed of purified proteins, purified starches, purified fats and inorganic salts, although they may live on these for a time, do not grow and in a short time develop various pathological conditions as a result of such "diet." If whey, or fruit juice, or vegetables are then added to the diet, the symptoms improve and the animals thrive better.
People now a days regularly consume breakfasts such as this one: a denatured cereal with white sugar and pasteurized cream, toast (white), pasteurized milk and, perhaps, bacon and eggs. Every article in this breakfast is denatured and altered chemically to a great extent. It is a predominantly acid forming breakfast and yet, the vitamin faddist will tell us only that it is lacking vitamin C or D. Our vitamin knowledge, where it is permitted to obscure all else, as is usually the case, certainly blinds so-called dietitians to some of the most important facts and principles of food science.
Except for the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat, practically everything we have on our table has had something done to it. Our milk is pasteurized, condensed, evaporated, boiled; Our sugar is the crystallized, refined and bleached sap of cane that has had all the minerals and vitamins removed from it. Our cereals are cracked, rolled, hammered, frittered, curled, flaked, ironed, roasted, twice roasted, boiled, and in other ways rendered useless. Wheat is milled, its minerals and vitamins removed, the flour is bleached and chemicalized. Its most important food elements are removed in the milling process. Our dried fruits are heated in drying, bleached with sulphur dioxide, stored for long periods of time and, finally, stewed and mixed with white sugar before being eaten.
The refining, preserving and cooking processes to which our foods are subjected destroy extraordinarily delicate and tender vital food factors. The refining and cooking processes rob foods of so much of their values that we add salt, sugar, spices, pepper and various other condiments and seasonings to them to make them palatable. Without the additions of such things they are dull, flat, insipid. Not so natural foods. Nature has placed delicate flavors and aromas in her foods that appeal to the senses of taste and smell.
A nation whose diet is made up almost wholly of such ‘foodless’ foods cannot possibly be well nourished. Why go to great lengths and much trouble to build up our soils and then take everything out of the foods that the ‘improved’ soils have put into them?
Over eighty years ago, Dr. Magendie, of Paris, starved one full pen of dogs to death by feeding them a diet of white flour and water, while another pen thrived on whole wheat flour and water. He fed another pen of dogs all the beef tea they could consume, and gave the dogs of another pen only water. The beef tea fed dogs all starved to death. The water fed dogs had lost considerable weight and would have starved also if the experiment had been continued; however, they were alive after those fed on beef tea were all dead. They were fed and all recovered.
Dogs fed on oil, gum or sugar died in four to five weeks. Dogs fed on fine (white) flour bread lived but fifty days. A goose fed on sugar in twenty-one days; two fed on starch died in twenty-four and twenty-seven days.
Eating Anything and Everything
The standard of eating all over the world is rapidly deteriorating. Global population is eating lessser quality foods then they did years back. The deterioration in the composition of the diet can be seen by looking in more detail at the constituent food groups that make up the diet. We can take the example of, let’s say, Nigeria.
Figure shows the relative percentages of the different food groups that make up the total annual food utilized in the country, in 1963, and then in 1990.
The largest component is starchy roots, about 56% of the diet in 1963. In 1990, this has gone up to almost 67% of the diet. Mostly, this is cassava, which, along with a variety of companion foods, is part of West African cuisines. However, the increased use of cassava from 1963 to 1990 reflects not a dietary preference, but rather a forced reliance on the root vegetable as a heavy-bearing crop, on which people can subsist, i.e., it's filling, but not nutritious.
What is shown as the "other" segment on the Nigeria food charts, is the total of all 12 other food types. In 1990, this included 5.4% vegetables; 3.5% fruits; 2% peas and beans; 1.6% sugar crops; 1% meats, and even lesser amounts of the remaining food groups.
Figure shows the relative percentages of the different food groups that make up the total annual food utilized in the country, in 1963, and then in 1990.
The largest component is starchy roots, about 56% of the diet in 1963. In 1990, this has gone up to almost 67% of the diet. Mostly, this is cassava, which, along with a variety of companion foods, is part of West African cuisines. However, the increased use of cassava from 1963 to 1990 reflects not a dietary preference, but rather a forced reliance on the root vegetable as a heavy-bearing crop, on which people can subsist, i.e., it's filling, but not nutritious.
What is shown as the "other" segment on the Nigeria food charts, is the total of all 12 other food types. In 1990, this included 5.4% vegetables; 3.5% fruits; 2% peas and beans; 1.6% sugar crops; 1% meats, and even lesser amounts of the remaining food groups.
Death of Soil Is Death of Civilization
Bad soil is bad for global health, and the evidence is mounting that the world' soil is in trouble. We're dead without good soil. Soil holds minerals and organic compounds critical to life. Without good soil we have got nothing.
All over the world, more than seven and a half million acres of soil has been degraded. That's larger than the U.S. and Canada combined. What remains is ailing as a result of compaction, erosion and salination making it near impossible to plant and adding to greenhouse gases and air pollution. Soil degradation is putting the future of the global population is at risk according to a National Geographic article by Charles Mann.
Civil unrest in Latin America, Asia and Africa have been attributed to a lack of food and affordable food as a result of poor soil. Currently, only 11-percent of the world's land feeds six billion people.
Experts estimate that by 2030 the Earth's population will reach 8.3 billion. Farmers will need to increase food production by 40-percent. But not much soil remains.
Scientists don't know much and don’t care either about this critical resource.
All over the world, more than seven and a half million acres of soil has been degraded. That's larger than the U.S. and Canada combined. What remains is ailing as a result of compaction, erosion and salination making it near impossible to plant and adding to greenhouse gases and air pollution. Soil degradation is putting the future of the global population is at risk according to a National Geographic article by Charles Mann.
Civil unrest in Latin America, Asia and Africa have been attributed to a lack of food and affordable food as a result of poor soil. Currently, only 11-percent of the world's land feeds six billion people.
Experts estimate that by 2030 the Earth's population will reach 8.3 billion. Farmers will need to increase food production by 40-percent. But not much soil remains.
Scientists don't know much and don’t care either about this critical resource.
One Who Feeds The World - A Victim of Hunger : A Case Study
Farmers all over the world are in a sorry state. Farming, which is called the noblest profession, has lesser takers nowadays. People are shying away from this. This does not bode well for world’s food supply. Let us take the example of Punjab (India) which is the bread basket of India.
When one thinks of Punjab, one imagines fields of golden wheat and rich farmers. But if we dig a little deeper, we will find that small farmers in the state are caught in the vicious cycle of debt and poverty.
Recently, Indian media highlighted the plight of Punjab’s farmers. Harpreet Singh, a farmer's son was quoted as saying, “We want to eat delicious food like kheer and Dal but we don't get it. What we get is only saag. Sometimes we don't even get roti and have to sleep hungry. This happens twice or thrice a month,"
The last time Harpreet tasted kheer (rice and milk pudding) was at a wedding in a Gurdwara, a year ago. And as he spoke, his helpless father Harjit Singh couldn't stop crying. A landless farmer in Sangrur, Harjit managed to lease one acre of land for cultivation. But while he spent Rs 32,000 on rent and input costs, he earned just Rs 24,000 after selling his crop.
When one thinks of Punjab, one imagines fields of golden wheat and rich farmers. But if we dig a little deeper, we will find that small farmers in the state are caught in the vicious cycle of debt and poverty.
Recently, Indian media highlighted the plight of Punjab’s farmers. Harpreet Singh, a farmer's son was quoted as saying, “We want to eat delicious food like kheer and Dal but we don't get it. What we get is only saag. Sometimes we don't even get roti and have to sleep hungry. This happens twice or thrice a month,"
The last time Harpreet tasted kheer (rice and milk pudding) was at a wedding in a Gurdwara, a year ago. And as he spoke, his helpless father Harjit Singh couldn't stop crying. A landless farmer in Sangrur, Harjit managed to lease one acre of land for cultivation. But while he spent Rs 32,000 on rent and input costs, he earned just Rs 24,000 after selling his crop.
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So it is not that because there is overpopulation there is scarcity of food. No. That is not the cause. The cause is that as soon as people will become godless, the supply will be stopped. That time is coming. |
He had to borrow from the local moneylender at an exorbitant rate to make up for his losses. "I am not able to give more than two meals and at times not even that to my family. The produce is poor and if it rains, I can't even work as labourer. How do I earn and feed my family?" says Harjit.
Five years ago, Harjit Singh met with an accident. He couldn't afford treatment, leaving his arm deformed. His neighbour Malkiat Singh too can't afford treatment for his eyes even though he runs the risk of turning blind. Being the only earning member in his family, he can't afford a break either. "Doctor says I should get operated or otherwise I will go blind. But I don't have money to even properly feed my family. How do I get operated?" Malkiat said.
For a small farmer, it costs Rs 25,000 to 35,000 to till one acre of land. Input costs are anything between Rs 18,000 to 25,000. Also, the rent on the land ranges from Rs 10,000 to 15,000. So, small farmers often end up paying from his own pocket because he rarely makes a profit and the downturn has made the matters worse.
The standing crop looks beautiful, but the other side of the story -- that of the farmer -- is not that good. The small farmer is still caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and there is little he can do to get out of it. Ironically the one who feeds us, is himself a victim of poverty and hunger.
Five years ago, Harjit Singh met with an accident. He couldn't afford treatment, leaving his arm deformed. His neighbour Malkiat Singh too can't afford treatment for his eyes even though he runs the risk of turning blind. Being the only earning member in his family, he can't afford a break either. "Doctor says I should get operated or otherwise I will go blind. But I don't have money to even properly feed my family. How do I get operated?" Malkiat said.
For a small farmer, it costs Rs 25,000 to 35,000 to till one acre of land. Input costs are anything between Rs 18,000 to 25,000. Also, the rent on the land ranges from Rs 10,000 to 15,000. So, small farmers often end up paying from his own pocket because he rarely makes a profit and the downturn has made the matters worse.
The standing crop looks beautiful, but the other side of the story -- that of the farmer -- is not that good. The small farmer is still caught in the vicious cycle of poverty and there is little he can do to get out of it. Ironically the one who feeds us, is himself a victim of poverty and hunger.
Agricultural Meltdown - The Last Straw That Would Break The Civilization’s Back
Agriculture is our last frontier to get destroyed. The oil is going. Finances are in dire straits. Agriculture is next meltdown and looks like it is ripe.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf has called on US President Barack Obama to make the eradication of world hunger a priority on his agenda and to host a world summit on the issue in the first half of this year.
In a message congratulating Obama on his election, Diouf said the US should, "in the first semester of 2009, take a leadership role in convening a World Summit on Food Security in order to reach a wide and common consensus on the definitive elimination of hunger from the world."
Heightened awareness of the plight of 923 million hungry persons as a result of the ongoing global food and financial crises created a "special window of opportunity for such an initiative," he added. FAO pointed out that the surge in food prices over the past year has increased the number of undernourished people in the world to an estimated 923 million, and this number could grow.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf has called on US President Barack Obama to make the eradication of world hunger a priority on his agenda and to host a world summit on the issue in the first half of this year.
In a message congratulating Obama on his election, Diouf said the US should, "in the first semester of 2009, take a leadership role in convening a World Summit on Food Security in order to reach a wide and common consensus on the definitive elimination of hunger from the world."
Heightened awareness of the plight of 923 million hungry persons as a result of the ongoing global food and financial crises created a "special window of opportunity for such an initiative," he added. FAO pointed out that the surge in food prices over the past year has increased the number of undernourished people in the world to an estimated 923 million, and this number could grow.
The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian Farmers Are Committing Suicide After Using Genetically Modified Crops
When Prince Charles claimed thousands of Indian farmers were killing themselves after using GM crops, he was branded a scaremonger. In fact, situation is even worse than he feared.
Beguiled by the promise of future riches, thousands of farmers are borrowing money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests fail, they are left with spiralling debts - and no income.
As already mentioned earlier, thousands of farmers have taken their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops. The crisis, branded the 'GM Genocide' by campaigners, was highlighted recently when Prince Charles claimed that the issue of GM had become a 'global moral question' - and the time had come to end its unstoppable march.
Official figures from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture do indeed confirm that it is a huge humanitarian crisis, more than 1,000 farmers are killing themselves each month. The price difference is staggering: £10 for 100 grams of GM seed, compared with less than £10 for 1,000 times more traditional seeds.
But GM salesmen and government officials had promised farmers that these were 'magic seeds' - with better crops that would be free from parasites and insects. Indeed, in a bid to promote the uptake of GM seeds, traditional varieties were banned from many government seed banks.
India’s economic boom means cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have boomed, while the farmers' lives have slid back into the dark ages. When crops failed in the past, farmers could still save seeds and replant them the following year.
But with GM seeds they cannot do this. That's because GM seeds contain so- called 'terminator technology', meaning that they have been genetically modified so that the resulting crops do not produce viable seeds of their own. As a result, farmers have to buy new seeds each year at the same punitive prices. For some, that means the difference between life and death. Thus the cost of the genetically modified future is murderously high.
Beguiled by the promise of future riches, thousands of farmers are borrowing money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests fail, they are left with spiralling debts - and no income.
As already mentioned earlier, thousands of farmers have taken their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops. The crisis, branded the 'GM Genocide' by campaigners, was highlighted recently when Prince Charles claimed that the issue of GM had become a 'global moral question' - and the time had come to end its unstoppable march.
Official figures from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture do indeed confirm that it is a huge humanitarian crisis, more than 1,000 farmers are killing themselves each month. The price difference is staggering: £10 for 100 grams of GM seed, compared with less than £10 for 1,000 times more traditional seeds.
But GM salesmen and government officials had promised farmers that these were 'magic seeds' - with better crops that would be free from parasites and insects. Indeed, in a bid to promote the uptake of GM seeds, traditional varieties were banned from many government seed banks.
India’s economic boom means cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have boomed, while the farmers' lives have slid back into the dark ages. When crops failed in the past, farmers could still save seeds and replant them the following year.
But with GM seeds they cannot do this. That's because GM seeds contain so- called 'terminator technology', meaning that they have been genetically modified so that the resulting crops do not produce viable seeds of their own. As a result, farmers have to buy new seeds each year at the same punitive prices. For some, that means the difference between life and death. Thus the cost of the genetically modified future is murderously high.
Biofuels and Grains: Recipe for Disaster Corn, Cows, Cars And Collapse
Malthus may have been right after all, though two centuries early. Mankind is outrunning its food supplies. As discussed earlier, hunger-- if not yet famine--is a looming danger for a long list of countries that are both poor and heavily reliant on farm imports, according to the Food Outlook of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The farm crunch has been creeping up on the world for 20 years but What has abruptly changed is the twin revolution of biofuel politics and Asia's switch to an animal-protein diet. Together, they have shattered the fragile equilibrium.
The farm crunch has been creeping up on the world for 20 years but What has abruptly changed is the twin revolution of biofuel politics and Asia's switch to an animal-protein diet. Together, they have shattered the fragile equilibrium.
Asia Takes Up American Diet
The world's grocery bill has jumped 21pc this year to $745bn, hence the food riots ripping through West Africa, Morocco, Yemen, Bengal, and Indonesia.
Headlines have appeared like "Three people were killed this month in China at a cooking oil stampede in Chongqing. Mexico has imposed a ceiling on corn prices to quell a tortilla revolt....
Asian countries like China are replicating the switch to a diet of beef, pork, chicken, and fish that occurred in Taiwan and Japan when they became rich. The US Department of Agriculture says the Taiwanese eat nine times as much animal protein as the Chinese.
Why does it matter? Because it takes 16lb or so of animal feed-mostly soya or corn - to produce a single pound of animal flesh. It takes 50 times as much water.
Until last year, China was able to grow enough grain to supply its ubiquitous poultry and fish farms. It has now become a net importer of corn for the first time in its modern history.
Urban sprawl across China's eastern seaboard is stealing most the fertile land, and the water tables of northern China are drying up. The same trends are under way in India, Vietnam, and much of emerging Asia.
Headlines have appeared like "Three people were killed this month in China at a cooking oil stampede in Chongqing. Mexico has imposed a ceiling on corn prices to quell a tortilla revolt....
Asian countries like China are replicating the switch to a diet of beef, pork, chicken, and fish that occurred in Taiwan and Japan when they became rich. The US Department of Agriculture says the Taiwanese eat nine times as much animal protein as the Chinese.
Why does it matter? Because it takes 16lb or so of animal feed-mostly soya or corn - to produce a single pound of animal flesh. It takes 50 times as much water.
Until last year, China was able to grow enough grain to supply its ubiquitous poultry and fish farms. It has now become a net importer of corn for the first time in its modern history.
Urban sprawl across China's eastern seaboard is stealing most the fertile land, and the water tables of northern China are drying up. The same trends are under way in India, Vietnam, and much of emerging Asia.
US And Europe - We Drive, Let The World Starve
Us aims to supply 20pc of total fuel needs from biofuels within a decade, up from 3.5 percent today. The US Department of Agriculture says reserves will reach the lowest in 35 years by 2008. The EU's vast silos are empty. Rich countries will not starve. But as Japan's Marubeni Institute warns, they may face a return to post-War food rationing long before the world population peaks in the middle of the century.
For bio-fuels, many countries have started growing Jatropha, a drought-resistant, poisonous weed that can be grown on marginal land; hence, the plant's image as an oilseed miracle crop. Critics in India and other countries, however, say jatropha grows best on good cropland and that large-scale commercial cultivation of the hardy perennial is likely to further reduce the amount of land that is available for growing food instead of fuel. Critics are also concerned about the effects of the plant's toxicity on humans and the unknown impact on fertile soil of a jatropha monoculture.
America's ethanol boom, which threatens the world with mass hunger, cannot be understood without first understanding the country's terribly destructive corn monoculture. The great corn fields of the American Midwest are not for corn on the cob - these monocultures primarily feed cows. These corn varieties are not very digestible for humans (and aren’t good for cattle who love to eat grasses).
In 2006, more than a third of the US corn crop went to ethanol, nearly a 50 percent rise in one year alone. As the world corn price rose, prices of wheat and rice followed. As a result, mass hunger could result among those populations that are already at the edge of starvation.
Ethanol from corn is inefficient to boot. In contrast with sugarcane-based ethanol, which is made in Brazil, corn-based ethanol may actually use more energy than it produces while causing air pollution.
The foreign policy implications of US government mandated ethanol madness are plainly disturbing. In the name of energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the US taxpayer is funding an industry that is contributing to food inflation and is likely to make life even more miserable than it presently is for the planet's poorest and most vulnerable people.
EU proposals will make it mandatory by 2020 for 10 per cent of all member states’ transport fuels to come from biofuels. In order to meet the substantial increase in demand, the EU will have to import biofuels made from crops like sugar cane and palm oil from developing countries.
But the rush by big companies and governments in countries such as Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Tanzania and Malaysia to win a slice of the EU biofuel pie threatens to force poor people from their land, destroy their livelihoods, lead to the exploitation of workers and hurt the availability and affordability of food.
Robert Bailey, an Oxfam spokesperson says, “In the scramble to supply the EU and the rest of the world with biofuels, poor people are getting trampled. The EU proposals as they stand will exacerbate the problem. It is unacceptable that poor people in developing countries should bear the cost of questionable attempts to cut emissions in Europe.”
For bio-fuels, many countries have started growing Jatropha, a drought-resistant, poisonous weed that can be grown on marginal land; hence, the plant's image as an oilseed miracle crop. Critics in India and other countries, however, say jatropha grows best on good cropland and that large-scale commercial cultivation of the hardy perennial is likely to further reduce the amount of land that is available for growing food instead of fuel. Critics are also concerned about the effects of the plant's toxicity on humans and the unknown impact on fertile soil of a jatropha monoculture.
America's ethanol boom, which threatens the world with mass hunger, cannot be understood without first understanding the country's terribly destructive corn monoculture. The great corn fields of the American Midwest are not for corn on the cob - these monocultures primarily feed cows. These corn varieties are not very digestible for humans (and aren’t good for cattle who love to eat grasses).
In 2006, more than a third of the US corn crop went to ethanol, nearly a 50 percent rise in one year alone. As the world corn price rose, prices of wheat and rice followed. As a result, mass hunger could result among those populations that are already at the edge of starvation.
Ethanol from corn is inefficient to boot. In contrast with sugarcane-based ethanol, which is made in Brazil, corn-based ethanol may actually use more energy than it produces while causing air pollution.
The foreign policy implications of US government mandated ethanol madness are plainly disturbing. In the name of energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the US taxpayer is funding an industry that is contributing to food inflation and is likely to make life even more miserable than it presently is for the planet's poorest and most vulnerable people.
EU proposals will make it mandatory by 2020 for 10 per cent of all member states’ transport fuels to come from biofuels. In order to meet the substantial increase in demand, the EU will have to import biofuels made from crops like sugar cane and palm oil from developing countries.
But the rush by big companies and governments in countries such as Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Tanzania and Malaysia to win a slice of the EU biofuel pie threatens to force poor people from their land, destroy their livelihoods, lead to the exploitation of workers and hurt the availability and affordability of food.
Robert Bailey, an Oxfam spokesperson says, “In the scramble to supply the EU and the rest of the world with biofuels, poor people are getting trampled. The EU proposals as they stand will exacerbate the problem. It is unacceptable that poor people in developing countries should bear the cost of questionable attempts to cut emissions in Europe.”
Bio-fuels : A Crime Against Humanity
The United Nations' special reporter on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, called for the suspension of biofuels production: "Burning food today so as to serve the mobility of the rich countries is a crime against humanity." He's asked the U.N. to impose a five-year ban on food-based biofuels production. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a group of 8,000 scientists globally, is also speaking out against biofuels. The scientists are pushing for a plant called switchgrass to be used as the source for biofuels, reserving corn and other food plants to be used solely as food.
In a news conference, former US President Bush defended food-based ethanol production: "The truth of the matter is it's in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us." One part of the world that does like Bush and his policies are the multinational food corporations. International nonprofit group GRAIN has just published a report called "Making a killing from hunger." In it, GRAIN points out that major multinational corporations are realizing vast, increasing profits amid the rising misery of world hunger. Profits are up for agribusiness giants Cargill (86 percent) and Bunge (77 percent), and Archer Daniels Midland (which dubs itself "the supermarket to the world") enjoyed a 67 percent increase in profits.
In a news conference, former US President Bush defended food-based ethanol production: "The truth of the matter is it's in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us." One part of the world that does like Bush and his policies are the multinational food corporations. International nonprofit group GRAIN has just published a report called "Making a killing from hunger." In it, GRAIN points out that major multinational corporations are realizing vast, increasing profits amid the rising misery of world hunger. Profits are up for agribusiness giants Cargill (86 percent) and Bunge (77 percent), and Archer Daniels Midland (which dubs itself "the supermarket to the world") enjoyed a 67 percent increase in profits.
“Plenty sits still, hunger is a wanderer”
- Proverb
GRAIN writes: "Is this a price blip? No. A food shortage? Not that either. We are in a structural meltdown, the direct result of three decades of neoliberal globalization. ... We have allowed food to be transformed from something that nourishes people and provides them with secure livelihoods into a commodity for speculation and bargaining." The report states: "The amount of speculative money in commodities futures ... was less than $5 billion in 2000. Last year, it ballooned to roughly $175 billion."
The best choice for civilization is clear -- we need what Pat Murphy of Community Solution calls “Plan C” -- The Conserver Option : Curtailment, Cooperation, Community. Efficiency by itself will not be enough to solve the enormous challenges we all face, but it could buy us a little time for deeper shifts.
As global granaries pass "Peak Grain" the world must decide if the American diet is more important than addressing preventable world hunger. We will only be able to feed the expected nine billion people if we abandon factory farming as a basis for agriculture. Energy efficient diets are a critical part of any plans for a global powerdown scenario to bridge the gap of energy decline.
The best choice for civilization is clear -- we need what Pat Murphy of Community Solution calls “Plan C” -- The Conserver Option : Curtailment, Cooperation, Community. Efficiency by itself will not be enough to solve the enormous challenges we all face, but it could buy us a little time for deeper shifts.
As global granaries pass "Peak Grain" the world must decide if the American diet is more important than addressing preventable world hunger. We will only be able to feed the expected nine billion people if we abandon factory farming as a basis for agriculture. Energy efficient diets are a critical part of any plans for a global powerdown scenario to bridge the gap of energy decline.
