According to the United Nations, as reported in: UN chief: food production must rise 50 percent by 2030, found at: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jun03/0,4670,UNFoodCrisis,00.html the world food supply not only needs to increase, but food producing nations must "...minimize export restrictions and import tariffs during the food price crisis and quickly resolve world trade talks".
So what the UN Secretary general was saying is that not only does the world need more food, but we need cheap food too. Of course this is all geared toward certain countries. On the receiving end it is geared toward countries that do not produce enough food for their own population. In other words, it is geared toward countries that do not even come close to performing the basic work necessary to meet the basic needs of their own people - basic needs being food, water and shelter. Of course this is not how the UN sees it; the UN would rather blame those countries at the other end of the spectrum, those who produce enough food to feed their own populations and then have some surplus left over. Here is an example of this last: "The United Nations is encouraging summit participants to start undoing a decades-long legacy of agricultural and trade policies that many blame for the failure of small farmers in poor countries to feed their own people."
No, the failures of small farms in poor countries are not due to policies of other nations in my opinion. Rather these failures are due to tyrannical governments oppressing people of those poor nations. Look at Myanmar for the perfect example. They not only oppress the people during fairly normal times, but have done so after a catastrophic natural disaster. Even when food and other aid freely flows into the country from abroad what has happened to it, it has in great part gone to the 'haves' and not to the 'have nots'. It is either about time that the UN start to address the real problem here, and try to look for lasting solutions. Having countries like the USA or Brazil dole out welfare like shipments of food, farm equipment, and fertilizer to third world nations is doing little to resolve their problems. Assuring that honest, moral, beneficent governments come to and remain in power in these countries would do an awful lot more in the long run. Then again whom am I trying to kid, because if we really live to see that happen it would not be the UN that would be doing it. As a matter of fact, it is many of the countries who participate in the UN who are apparently responsible for the same oppression that is responsible for keeping the masses of their own countries downtrodden in misery. I guess that leaves us with one place to start, so why not abolish the UN!
Edited to add: Oh, how could I forget? Maybe there is also another solution to this mess. Maybe those in third world countries ought to start acting responsibly when it comes to population growth. They could exercise some form of birth control and reduce the need for handouts while also reducing their own suiffering due to overpopulation. After all, overpopulation causes food shortages, and shortages of all other resources, just look to countries like India if you don't beleive it. They could start with abstinence, or condoms, or the pill, or family planning (as the one child rule in most of China). Or they could go with good old oral sex for a more fun solution. What a thought, can you imagine anyone trying to solve a shortage of resources by actually realizing that over population is the root cause for those shortages, and then trying to stem overpopulation. I must be some sort of radical, but it makes sense to me that there are just too many rats in the cage and not enough rat chow to go around.
All the best,
Glenn B
2 comments:
Glenn
I have thought long and hard about this before the UN statement.
The Middle East(aside from Israel) is oil rich and food production poor. What needs to happen first is that we treat the food going to the ME like they treat the oil coming out...dollar for dollar raise the food prices as they raise the oil prices...this will not resolve the food issues, but will reduce the OPEC crap fest going on...
as to the food...we have sent so much food to Africa and other third world countries...there is plenty of food...just EVIL people that are not distributing the food...this is not a food crisis...but our friends THE WORLD will not support the needed actions(LIKE we did with Saddam)
and we will continue to have issues such as Burma( Myramar) that has needed food rotting or being stolen before it reaches the masses.
So you BC methods should perhaps be enacted on UN personal and then leaders of any country that have no free(not Jimmy Carter approved) elections.
Oh well just me knowing that we will not raise the costs of food going into the middle east...so I am just blowing wind
Jennifer
Jen,
We probably see this one differently, although I could go further than BC for the UN.
Think about all that sending of food. Why do we send it. Well because they need it. Why do they need it. Well because they do not have enough of their own. Why is that? Because their are simply too many rats in the cage, and not enough rat chow to go around. Therefore there are wars of annihilation ongoing throughout much of Africa. People are being kept from food to starve, people are being allowed to die of disease, people are being led to slaughter in war. For what. I'll tell you, to reduce the populations so there is more for fewer. Yet in all that, you do not see people trying to sustain themselves all that much in most of the effected nations. They have grown to accept the fact that help is on its way, and we have grown to accept that we should dole out that help. Look at what it got us on 9/11. I say, let's give them a year's supply of manure, some hand farm tools, a few thousand mules with plows, and a year or two supply of condoms with a how to picture book for each, and way to put down an oppressive government like a gun for each citizen. Change would come. The work ethic, the idea of self support, they are not there, and we are not fostering them by doling handouts to them even if it exactly what the UN wants so they and their corrupt cronies can get their hands into it. Our freebies only make it worse in the long run.
All the best,
GB
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