ALBA Summit on World Food Crisis

Submitted by fyl on 25 April, 2008 - 09:56.
Venezuela Analysis offers an in-depth article about what ALBA members are doing to address the world food crisis at least in this region. Some will call it "socialist propaganda" but when it comes to people not being able to eat through no fault of their own, it just feels a bit different.

What isn't clear and isn't discussed in the article is how much of this crisis is a result of speculation rather than actual shortages.

[Cuban Vice President Carlos] Lage further denounced the fact that the United States spends $500 billion per year on the Iraq War while the U.N. had to plea last month for $500 million donations in order to meet its emergency food quotas.
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plenty of beans, cheap gas?

Submitted by Daddy-YO on 8 May, 2008 - 09:25.

Today's El Nuevo Diario states that Nicaragua has exported more than 3,000 tons of beans to Venezuela since the end of 2007, while the UN's FAO and NGOs warn of the risk of hunger & malnutrition for more than 1.5 million Nicaraguans. This month 540 tons of quality(sic) beans and 1,300 dairy heifers were sent to Caracas. The totals planned to be sent there for 2008 are 2,500 tons of beans and 6,000 dairy heifers.

But, hey, as a member state of ALBA, think of all the cheap petroleum Nicaragua will get from its big buddy state. Wait a minute ... isn't gas there now $4.48/gal? Something's amiss in Nicaragua.

More on rice, other shortages

Submitted by fyl on 26 April, 2008 - 07:54.

The Real News has another piece on rice and other food shortages. It covers what is happening in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and more about the ALBA actions.

In that video, one comment helps you appreciate the issue. The announcer stated that many of the world's poor spend over 50% of their income on food. Think about what would have happened to your life in the last year if that had been your case as well.

I guess they..

Submitted by Doug on 25 April, 2008 - 15:56.

don't want to wind up like Haiti;

"At the meeting, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, and Chávez signed a series of accords to promote mutual agricultural development, create a joint food distribution network, and create a $100 million ALBA food security fund." ----------------------------------------------------------

"For many Haitians, the mud biscuits are their only food. They taste of fat, suck the moisture out of the mouth and leave behind an aftertaste of dirt. They often cause diarrhea, but they help to numb the pangs of hunger...The clay to make 100 of the biscuits costs $5 (€3.15) and has risen by $1.50 (€0.95), or about 40 percent, within one year. The same is true of staple foods. Nevertheless, the same amount of money buys more of the mud cakes than bread or corn tortillas. A daily bowl of rice is almost unaffordable."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,547198,00.html

But what the hell,

"NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 finished higher on Friday as robust profits from...."

maybe...investing in clay ???

-Doug

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate