National Geographic discusses the global food crisis
blogs.citypages.com...
National Geographic has a "special report" in the June issue that deals with the issue of dwindling worldwide supply of food side by side with the
increasing demand for it to due global population growth.
It's a sobering article as well as even-handed in its treatment of the issue. For example, it has a pretty open-minded treatment of pesticides and
genetic modification. It's what fueled the so-called "green revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s after all, when India lifted millions out of
starvation by introducing new types of grain developed by a plant breeder from Iowa who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
It seemed like a miracle at the time, but then came the debts (from the high cost of fertilizer and pesticides) and the cancer (possibly a result of
the new seeds' need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, though the article says "[t]here's no proof"). The seeds also need an exhaustive
amount of water. The article makes it sound like there's hope for genetic modification without the ugly side effects though.
blogs.citypages.com...
NGOs stress EU, US role in global food crisis
Unfair bilateral trade agreements and development policies in the European Union and the United States have laid the foundations for global food
insecurity, argues a new NGO report.
Background:
As the world's population approaches ten billion, climate change, growing scarcity of oil and the availability of quality land and water are
challenging the planet's capacity to produce enough food for everyone.
World cereal prices hit record highs in 2007 and the first half of 2008, fuelling spikes in food prices which in turn triggered riots in some
developed countries, along with a series of commodity export bans. Since then, prices have fallen again due to a good harvest in 2008.
Developing countries which are net importers of food were hit hardest by the hike in food prices, while net food exporting countries were making large
profits. However, it is argued that in the long term, rising food prices could help rural communities in some developing countries to escape poverty
through increased farmer income.
www.euractiv.com...
[edit on 24-5-2009 by wonderworld]
