Many experts have pointed out links between the recent revolution in Egypt and the fact that global food prices surged to a record high in January. While Egypt has wealth and a significant number of urban professionals, about 40% of the population still lives on an income of under $2 a day -- 20% exist on a mere $1 a day. And in the best of times, the average Egyptian spends 40% of their income on food. As food prices have risen over 20% in Egypt, hunger and food insecurity has also risen.
The people of Egypt are not alone: nearly 3 billion people worldwide live on less than $2 per day. More than $1.3 billion people globally do not have access to safe and clean water. Which means that a good percentage of the world is rife with food insecurity. When you are already eating as cheaply and meagerly as possible, any raise in cost can quickly plunge you and your family into hunger. People might not protest for overtly political or social causes, but when they can't feed themselves and their family, they will take to the streets.
The reasons for food insecurity are many and varied. But part of the problem is the global farming systems. Egypt is the largest wheat importer in the world. In some part this is due to irrigation issues and inhospitable climes. Egypt's dependence on wheat is also partially because for decades it has been cheaper to import wheat, corn, soy and barley from the U.S. than to grow it locally.
Farming subsidies in the U.S. have created a system which lessens the perceived value of food from a nutritional standpoint and heightens its value as a commodity. Decisions on food production and agriculture are made about what will make the largest profit.
In America, the banner crop for big agriculture is corn. Corn itself is not evil or bad. Sweet corn, which is what we eat, is a delicious, nutritious crop that I cook with frequently.
But the corn that is subsidized by the government, which gets turned into high-fructose corn syrup, processed foods and ethanol is the commodity that supplants any natural food supply. Because instead of a diverse variety of crops being grown in a region, and people being able to feed and sustain themselves locally off those crops, corn is grown because of the subsidies, and an unrealistic nutritional and financial structure is created.
The current model is unsustainable on many levels, from growth of the kernels to the price on the stock ticker. And it doesn't just affect US farming and policy, it affects farmers throughout the world.
Because of the US subsidy system, it is actually cheaper for many other countries to import these foods than it is to grow these crops locally. Local farmers who would be able to competitively price their wares in a market-based economy cannot compete against the artificially low prices of commodity crops. This unbalance erodes the local farming economies which further increases dependence on imports. When global food prices rise, there is often little recourse for local economies.
The subsidized crops that are exported go up in down in value. Though always less than the market-value, it changes. Say China wants to make fuel out of corn, so they're buying more of it to make ethanol, there's less available for these other countries, the prices go up. Since 2005 corn prices have risen 139 percent, barley now costs twice as much as it did six years ago and the price of soy is 90% higher.
But if you're already spending a significant portion of your meager income on food and the cost doubles, where do you go from there?
As a UN Ambassador for the UNICEF TAP Project, it's one of my priorities to get clean water to people throughout Africa. Whether it's wheat in Egypt, corn in China, or water in Ethiopia, all these substances that sustain us are affected by politics. The political decisions of the US affect the entire world, we need to realize that we are a truly global community.
Follow Marcus Samuelsson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MarcusCooks
http://johannhari.com/2010/07/02/how-goldman-sachs-gambling-on-starving-the-worlds-poor-and-won
How Goldman Sachs gambled on starving the world's poor - and won : Johann Hari
"...It starts with an apparent mystery. At the end of 2006, food prices across the world started to rise, suddenly and stratospherically. Within a year, the price of wheat had shot up by 80 per cent, maize by 90 per cent, rice by 320 per cent. In a global jolt of hunger, 200 million people - mostly children - couldn't afford to get food any more, and sank into malnutrition or starvation. There were riots in more than 30 countries, and at least one government was violently overthrown. Then, in spring 2008, prices just as mysteriously fell back to their previous level. Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, calls it "a silent mass murder", entirely due to "man-made actions."
[snip]
So it has come to this. The world's wealthiest speculators set up a casino where the chips were the stomachs of hundreds of millions of innocent people. They gambled on increasing starvation, and won. Their Wasteland moment created a real wasteland. What does it say about our political and economic system that we can so casually inflict so much pain?..."
Farm subsidies enrich US farmers at the cost to the US taxpayer, and impoverish foreign based producers. And the ethanol mandates noted in the op-ed are a particularly egregious example of wrong-headed policy.
Nothing will do more to improve the lives of the world's poor than an end to subsidies and protectionist trade policies. The US should unilaterally eliminate all agri/industrial subsides and protectionist trade policies to encourage the rest of the world to follow suit.
And to those who thinks all of this 'money printing' is cute-n-funny, just remember that governments in other countries are being overthrown right now until they can find leaders who will divorce themselves of the is bankrupt Anglo-American financial empire.
Human beings cannot digest the trillions in worthless fiat-paper money Ben Bernanke is creating.
Big money in corn, farmers almost have to grow it.
But I guess that just makes too much sense. No, let's do a ton of spraying and monocropping and either ship it 3,000 miles or burn it in our cars. Yep, that's more logical.
Look to present day China as 100's of millions of Chinese abandon the hopelessness of village life for the promise of a better future in the coastal cities.
Only Simultaneous Policy can solve these kinds of problems in the long run. htpp://simpol.org.uk
Besides - aren't all countries currently acting in their own self interests?
There is no such conflict. Countries always act in their own interest. Currently they operate in their competitive interest, with destructive consequences for us all. Simultaneous policy compels them to act in their cooperative interest, with equally positive consequences. Simpol. :-)
Watch this short video !, What's "Wrong With Our Food System" Learning this from an 11 year old may shock you ! http://www.aliveraw.com/Articles/Whats-Wrong-With-Our-Food-System.aspx
The Future of Food Documentary Film: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/
However, those impoverished souls existing on $3/day care mainly that their food is affordable and available 1st and foremost.
I try and do the best I can, what more can be expected..
Yet my greatest concern is for life, and I wish not to kill animals for food. I am a vegan not for health, but for the preservation of life.
But to know that GMO's are in our food, we can at least choise better food to feed our children. If one can consume 25% less GMO's, thats a good thing.
My Karma and my soul, are more important than my stomach.
Peace, Life, Love...
I know a lot about GMO's but this took it to a hole new level :)
A plant pathologist experienced in protecting against biological warfare recently warned the USDA of a new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn.
Dr. Don M. Huber, who coordinates the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens committee of the American Phytopathological Society, as part of the USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System, warned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that this pathogen threatens the US food and feed supply and can lead to the collapse of the US corn and soy export markets. Likewise, deregulation of GE alfalfa “could be a calamity,” he noted in his letter
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/02/20/scientists-warn-of-link-between-dangerou
Monsanto's Roundup triggers over 40 plant diseases and endangers human and animal health, January 14, 2011 http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12806:monsanto-s-roundup-triggers-over-40-plant-diseases-and-endangers-human-and-animal-health
To learn more about Monsanto's Kellogg's foods, genetically engineered alfalfa and sugar beets and Monsanto's crimes (Monsanto Sues More Small Family Farmers), Please go to : http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm
Please See: 10 reasons why we don’t need GM foods. http://www.gmwatch.org/10-reasons-why-we-dont-need-gm-foods
Monsanto Brings Small Family Dairy to Court Oakhurst Dairy has been owned and operated by the same Maine family since 1921, and Monsanto recently attempted to put them out of business...
Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer, whose Canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto's genetically engineered Round-Up Ready Canola by pollen from a nearby farm. Monsanto says it doesn't matter how the contamination took place, and is therefore demanding Schmeiser pay their Technology Fee...
Rodney Nelson's family farm is being forced into a similar lawsuit by Monsanto.
Schmeiser, Nelson and hundreds of other farmers are being forced to pay Monsanto ! http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/crime.cfm
Watch this short video !, What's "Wrong With Our Food System" Learning this from an 11 year old may shock you ! http://www.aliveraw.com/Articles/Whats-Wrong-With-Our-Food-System.aspx
The Future of Food Documentary Film: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/
Canadians Take Action ! Bill C-474 Voted Down. The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network http://www.cban.ca/
Demand President Obama Stop Monsanto's Takeover at the USDA! The USDA approved Monsanto's genetically engineered sugar beets just a week after it approved GE alfalfa. http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5810
Tell President Obama not to cave to Monsanto!
http://thefutureoffoodfilm.wordpress.com/
This move by Harper & Obama(in the last few weeks) to allow GMO's to be freely grown in North America, while we, the Organic Community have been protesting this for years, shows that they don't give a %@*! about the citizens, environment or the future of our children's, children !
Tories team with Liberals to kill genetically modified food legislation, Vancover Sun 02/10/11 http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Tories+team+with+Liberals+kill+genetically+modified+food+legislation/4253997/story.html?id=4253997
Obama Administration Allows Unrestricted Planting of GMO Alfalfa. Bye-Bye Organic Milk and Beef. http://politicsoftheplate.com/?p=753
This is an assault on the FOOD SOVEREIGNTY of NORTH AMERICA !
And the only way we can defeat them is to boycott the food manufactures who use GMO ingredients. In that way, we consumers can force food manufactures to change, or we don't by their foods.
This new Greenpeace GMO list is our weapon, our sword !http://gmoguide.greenpeace.ca/shoppers_guide.pdf
True Food Shoppers Guide mobile application for iPhone and Android! http://itunes.apple.com/app/true-food/id379459607?mt=8
Complete List U.S Non-GMO http://truefoodnow.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/web_new-ge-booklet.pdf, Update: http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/Non-GMO-Shopping-Guide.pdf
Sure, prepackaged, preprocessed food is cheap and easy to ship around the world. What is not taken into account is the social, political, economical, and environmental costs associated with Mass Production agribusiness.
Our policies should reflect and respect the diversity that we have, not force whole ecologies and economies into Monoculture Monopolies.
We should not force subsistence farmers around the world to compete with Multibillionaire Multinationals.
There are many ways to address these issues, many solutions ready to be put in place.
Follow the money. It won't take long to understand who benefits chiefly from existing policy, and why exactly nothing ever changes.
Of course, when hamburgers and pizza and all the food we glut upon so readily, so cheaply, suddenly is too expensive to buy, well, I'm sure we'll at least have a better understanding of why the hungry take to the streets.
Decisions about domestic agricultural policies in the U.S. have global impacts that disproportionately negatively affect the poor and developing world. This is linked to our "Monroe Doctrine" trade policies that exist throughout the world - keep poor countries dependent on the U.S. so that we can stay in control of the economic situation. And these policies are making our own population obese and unhealthy - something has to change! Thanks Marcus.