world hunger (plz read)

thousands of people die everyday of world hunger, yet many countries like U.S pays for its farmers to not produce too many crops to mantain a healthy economy. Shouldnt we be trying to grow more crops and feed those in need with the extra crops that we dont consume?

I wasn't aware that U.S tells there farmers not to over produce .

But what upsets me the most is the wastage i see on Halloween . U.S grows so much pumpkin so that it can make Jack "O lanterns out of them for Halloween and then finally dump them next day . That much pumpkin could feed all the third world Countries for at least a day !!!!!!!!

And amount of candy Americans waste , the candies are bought and distributed . And the parents don't even allow them to eat bag full of candies and dump them in dustbins . I see the face of a poor child in India who has not even tasted candy .

Is it really a problem of insufficient production of crops. At least, in India I really don't think so. The major problem in my opinion is the distribution system. every year hundreds of tonnes of crop are being stockpiled and not being distributed in an adequate way. Just to earn more profit, some people with vested interests really don't care whether it reaches the masses or not.

Though apparently the same, the two are separate.

Consider, if all the Halloween pumpkins (or X-Mas candies) were shipped to Somalia or Zaire and distributed among the population what would really happen? First there would be a stampede, next the donor country would be accused of "dumping" rotten pumpkins on starving masses (as some pumpkins would invariably be rotten) and finally, the starving masses themselves would not be any better off as a few pumpkins will not really go very far in alleviating hunger and supplementing nutrition needs.

To do away with hunger and deprivation, it is only the local administration, government etc who can meaningfully gather aid and ensure equitable distribution.

However, there are problems with this too. Mogadishu is a glaring illustration in the fallibility of this method.

When we tell ourselves to reduce over-consumption, to reduce wastage, we are really doing is satisfying the call of our conscience. The call of seeing the pain in fellow man and for acting on this.

What we can meaningfully do is to support organisations such as MSF and CRY who have full-fledged set-ups to ensure that the right aid reaches the right places.

Consider the following:
Over 9 million people die worldwide each year because of hunger and malnutrition. 5 million are children.
Approximately 1.2 billion people suffer from hunger (deficiency of calories and protein);
Some 2 to 3.5 billion people have micronutrient deficiency (deficiency of vitamins and minerals);
Yet, some 1.2 billion suffer from obesity (excess of fats and salt, often accompanied by deficiency of vitamins and minerals);
Food wastage is also high:
In the United Kingdom, "a shocking 30-40% of all food is never eaten;"
In the last decade the amount of food British people threw into the bin went up by 15%;
Overall, 20 billion (approximately $38 billion US dollars) worth of food is thrown away, every year.
In the US 40-50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten;
The impacts of this waste is not just financial. Environmentally this leads to:
Wasteful use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides;
More fuel used for transportation;
More rotting food, creating more methane — one of the most harmful greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change.
The direct medical cost of hunger and malnutrition is estimated at $30 billion each year.

Source:http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty/Hunger/Caus es.asp

I think there are several facters for the world hunger.Or shall I say myths.

MYTH : There isn't enough food
There isn't enough food to go around, as evidenced by the fact that there is hunger everywhere. And if there isn't enough food, then some will inevitably go hungry. Even where there is, population growth inevitably eventually outstrips food production (which increases only linearly, even assuming that farmland continues to be available).
In fact, the "carrying capacity" of the earth is less than today's population.


Why is this a myth?

There's plenty of food now. Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) requirements: 2700 cal/day (US male, 155 lb, "not very active") and 2000 cal/day (US female in her twenties, 127 lb, "not very active") But world grain production is already 3600 cal/day/person,( Iam not very positive about the current figures) not counting other sources of nutrition: fish, game, nuts & berries
Growth is rapid: Production is increasing beyond population in every region except Africa. There is also plenty of room for further growth in the food supply.
There's lots of unsold & stockpiled grain, and grain is used to produce gasohol.
Many countries export food despite need. For example: There is hunger even in the United States, where there is plenty of food. India exports food. Bangladesh produces an (official) average of approx. 2000 calories per day in rice, but the poorest eat 1500 cal/day max.

 

 

Now what can be done

Any or all of the following:

#1: Use the market, but disperse purchasing power! The market works fine in some ways. It does provide an automatic adjustment mechanism. . The problem arises from inequality, not the market

#2: Stop debating how much government should be involved in the market (since every society has large government involvement) and start looking at the nature of government involvement (

#3: Make food a right, e.g., as is done in Kerala, India, where the ration  has high literacy, life expectancy, infant survival rates, etc.

#4: Where land is the basis of production, remove land from the commodity market.

 Should we give more aid?

We should guarantee food & basic necessities, as in Kerala. Providing toothbrushes cures more people than providing dentists for the rich. Remember that we do have a rationing system, except that our lines are invisible: people who can't afford to go to the dentist. I can't afford to see an eye doctor yearly.

 

 

Edited by dolly - 24 January 2006 at 10:01am