Hunger Turns to Anger
April 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pm | posted by Virginia SimmonsA striking piece in the New York Times today about the hunger crisis in Haiti and across the globe:
“Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples like beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.
Saint Louis Meriska’s children ate two spoonfuls of rice apiece as their only meal recently and then went without any food the following day. His eyes downcast, his own stomach empty, the unemployed father said forlornly, “They look at me and say, ‘Papa, I’m hungry,’ and I have to look away. It’s humiliating and it makes you angry.”
That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis is not only being felt among the poor but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments.”
I’d quote the whole thing if I could. Read the full article here and take action against the hunger crisis here.
-Virginia Simmons
April 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hunger isn’t good thing, but I think that giving millions of $ to people like these is waste of money.
African nations must realize that they must work, grow plants and so on… Like people around the World.
Currently they are only growing in size. And you probably know why- they don’t know another life than taking humanitarian aid. This aid is given for a very long time, but still there are no noticeable progress. They are addicted to this and I don’t think that they will change their mind soon. I think cutting the aid would be first step changing the black continent
April 18th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Zigmas your ignorance of how the world works is dissapointing but understandable. Please educate yourself on the issue before you form an opinion.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Zigmas,
I understand your frustration, however, the black community is not based upon receiving aid. It is almost impossable to grow their own food like what could be grown here in America. Africa is not the ideal place to grow food. It is not about how many times people look for help, it matters that they need help. With the way the African government is, it is no surprise to me that there are as many issues as what Africa is facing today.
April 19th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Zigmas,
Have you done any reading about modern-slavery in Haiti? There are many men, women and children in that region that have worked harder than we could ever know. Have you read about the fact that until just recently they were being trafficked to sugar plantations in neighboring countries and paid in food vouchers instead of cash AND taxed for their food items? Although currently paid cash, you may consider reading about the daily work schedule and salary arrangements endured by these people. You may also consider reading a little about the history of Haiti. Haitian’s have been dealing with this problem for hundreds of years. I almost feel as though you beg the questions…
April 19th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
All,
First of all, Haiti is NOT an African country. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, just a few miles away from Florida!
Secondly, and more complicated, the current food crisis has been brought on specifically BECAUSE Third World nations have “gone to work” out pacing industrialized nations in economic growth by three or four to one over the last six years. A hundred million or more people are now no longer poor and they have consumed the world’s entire excess capacity to produce food and energy.
But the real causes of poverty that need to be addressed are issues of power, not economics or logistics. And it’s the relative power between elites in first world countries and the masses of, now mostly urban, poor in third world countries where the problems of food security originate.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Truly, it is not the money that needs immediate attention. I understand it is important to donate money, but when only a fraction of our population KNOWS of problems in other countries, it is not working as efficiently as possible. Funding needs to be put towards AWARENESS, so that we gain more people who know of the terror outside of our safe nation.
And, when we finally realize that even a low to middle class family gets paid more in a month than MANY families get paid in a year in Third World countries, that if a collection of just a tiny percent of our salaries could make all the difference. $1 feeds a child in Africa for one whole day. That makes a whole world of difference. Taking little steps like these are what starts the revolution.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Doesn’t the United States have an over production of corn?????
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Tina,
The US produces more of virtually every agricultural commodity than we use. (Although use of corn for biofuel has greatly reduced that excess production.) However, we already export (essentially) all of that excess to other countries. We are the world’s largest rice exporter, for example. The problem is that incomes have risen so much in the Third World over the past six years that consumption is outstripping worldwide production, leading to declines of carry-over grain reserves of several critical food commodities. There’s literally not enough food being produced to feed everyone right now.
This has been exacerbated by the hoarding phenomenon caused by speculative investments by the world’s capitalists in food commodities, due to the lack of other investment opportunities brought on by the evaporation of the capital market for mortgage-backed securities in the US and Europe.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
It’s so sad to hear what you Zigma say.
Have you been to Hatie? Do you really know what goes on?
I dont think so. Why must they only and i quote you “work, grow plants and so on” ?
Did you know that Hatiens are very smart people and that they have a hight education ranking in their nation? Your ignorance is dissapointing. They DO work and they DO try to better themselfs.
How? By becoming teachers, construcion workers, etc.
Maby you should get your facts straight before you go and judge an entire nation with your harsh words.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
The continent of Africa has the resources to feed it’s own people and the people there work very hard, particularly the women farmers. It is the huge corporations that cause the trouble. The so called Green Revolution that has caused so much trouble in India is now being forced upon Africa by multi-national companies. The Bill Gates so called ‘charity work’ in Africa is responsible for a good part of this destruction of local seed banks and successful farming techniques so that multinational seed and genetic modification corporations can make more money.
Greed is another aspect. North Americans are much to blame. How big do our houses really have to be? How many lavish meals must we eat each day? How much food must be wasted and end up in garbage bins?
North Americans have much to learn from the so called developing nations.