Comments on: Our daily bread http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/ The Official Weblog of The Long Now Foundation and Friends Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David Cinnamon http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-18716 David Cinnamon Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:27:35 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-18716 There are 2 ways of spinning it. The pessimist will point out that the number of starving people is rising. The optimist points out that the percentage of humanity that is starving is at an all-time historic low. Overpopulation is the root issue. I'm proud to be a donor to the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Until high fertility in the 3rd world is reigned in, they will be at the mercy of Malthusian economics. Ethiopia for instance had a drought famine in the 70's. Since then, increased food output and foreign aid has doubled their food supply. Their population doubled. Now they've had another famine this decade, even though 80% of their workforce is in agriculture. :-( Same deal with India. They've been getting food aid for decades, but they're almost as hungry as ever even as their population explodes. Food donations aren't the answer either. Hungry countries like Somalia have been taking free food for decades. The result? Domestic farms go out of business because they can't compete with free. It makes them ever more dependent on foreign handouts. The answer is not aid but investment. Give them capital to improve their own farms. Rowland could not be more wrong. Capitalism is the solution, not the problem. Famine is not caused by economics. EVERY famine in recent history was caused by bad governance. * China starved because Mao Zedong ordered farmers to triple wheat output by planting it 3x closer together. Mao's yes men were too chicken to tell him that that would choke the roots and deny them nutrients. So they did. Then his yes men kept telling him he was right and that the crops were doing great even as crops failed. Later Mao was too proud to admit his problem and refused to import wheat, so tens of millions starved in the not-so-Great Leap Forward. *North Korea is starving because Kim Jong Il would rather build nukes and spend 1/3 of the country's GDP on the military than end the embargo to feed his people. He often turns away donated food. Looks like the "food-not-bombs" crowd marching on Washington is barking up the wrong tree. * Zimbabwe starved because President Robert Mugabe forcefully seized all farms owned by white people, and handed them over to cronies and henchmen in his kleptocracy who didn't even know how to run a farm. Farms and farming capital have left the country. Nobody wants to invest or grow food in Zimbabwe because the army will come and steal it. * In the 70's, Ethiopia had a famine caused by drought. Starvation persisted because the king was too proud to admit his country was in trouble. He refused to ask for help, so his country revolted. EVERY famine in recent history was caused by rotten governance. 2 words: Norman Borlaug. The man who fed the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvNopv9Pa8 There are 2 ways of spinning it. The pessimist will point out that the number of starving people is rising. The optimist points out that the percentage of humanity that is starving is at an all-time historic low. Overpopulation is the root issue. I’m proud to be a donor to the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Until high fertility in the 3rd world is reigned in, they will be at the mercy of Malthusian economics. Ethiopia for instance had a drought famine in the 70′s. Since then, increased food output and foreign aid has doubled their food supply. Their population doubled. Now they’ve had another famine this decade, even though 80% of their workforce is in agriculture. :-( Same deal with India. They’ve been getting food aid for decades, but they’re almost as hungry as ever even as their population explodes.

Food donations aren’t the answer either. Hungry countries like Somalia have been taking free food for decades. The result? Domestic farms go out of business because they can’t compete with free. It makes them ever more dependent on foreign handouts. The answer is not aid but investment. Give them capital to improve their own farms.

Rowland could not be more wrong. Capitalism is the solution, not the problem. Famine is not caused by economics. EVERY famine in recent history was caused by bad governance.

* China starved because Mao Zedong ordered farmers to triple wheat output by planting it 3x closer together. Mao’s yes men were too chicken to tell him that that would choke the roots and deny them nutrients. So they did. Then his yes men kept telling him he was right and that the crops were doing great even as crops failed. Later Mao was too proud to admit his problem and refused to import wheat, so tens of millions starved in the not-so-Great Leap Forward.

*North Korea is starving because Kim Jong Il would rather build nukes and spend 1/3 of the country’s GDP on the military than end the embargo to feed his people. He often turns away donated food. Looks like the “food-not-bombs” crowd marching on Washington is barking up the wrong tree.

* Zimbabwe starved because President Robert Mugabe forcefully seized all farms owned by white people, and handed them over to cronies and henchmen in his kleptocracy who didn’t even know how to run a farm. Farms and farming capital have left the country. Nobody wants to invest or grow food in Zimbabwe because the army will come and steal it.

* In the 70′s, Ethiopia had a famine caused by drought. Starvation persisted because the king was too proud to admit his country was in trouble. He refused to ask for help, so his country revolted.

EVERY famine in recent history was caused by rotten governance.

2 words: Norman Borlaug. The man who fed the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvNopv9Pa8

]]> By: Mujtahidul Haque http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-18550 Mujtahidul Haque Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:05:54 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-18550 Simple: stop the biofuel hysteria. Biofuels are not economically viable and they cause more environmental damage than fossil fuels. Without biofuels, food prices will drop drastically. Simple: stop the biofuel hysteria. Biofuels are not economically viable and they cause more environmental damage than fossil fuels. Without biofuels, food prices will drop drastically.

]]> By: Kathleen http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-8674 Kathleen Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:38:44 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-8674 "Rats on a junk food diet behave like drug addicts." More detailed information on this topic can be found in the book "The End of Overeating" by David A. Kessler, MD “Rats on a junk food diet behave like drug addicts.”
More detailed information on this topic can be found in the book “The End of Overeating” by David A. Kessler, MD

]]> By: Rowland http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-8535 Rowland Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:53:39 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-8535 ... also our current problems with global malnurishment are more related to inequitable distruibution. No matter how much food we produce, if the poor have no money to pay for it, they will go hungry. This is the world we live in. In 2009 it just sounds cliche to blame capitalism but ... … also our current problems with global malnurishment are more related to inequitable distruibution. No matter how much food we produce, if the poor have no money to pay for it, they will go hungry. This is the world we live in. In 2009 it just sounds cliche to blame capitalism but …

]]> By: Liz http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-8527 Liz Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:22:27 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-8527 A critical issue related to how we will feed the world, is our consumption and protection of our freshwater resources. Clean, fresh water is required to grow/produce our food and certain foods (higher on the food chain) consume much more of it than others. Becoming more aware of what the water requirement is for what we eat is the first step towards being able to make more informed decisions that affect the availability of fresh water. Many of us take for granted our access to clean, fresh water, when it's in fact a very limited resource, and one that is essential for our very survival. A critical issue related to how we will feed the world, is our consumption and protection of our freshwater resources. Clean, fresh water is required to grow/produce our food and certain foods (higher on the food chain) consume much more of it than others.

Becoming more aware of what the water requirement is for what we eat is the first step towards being able to make more informed decisions that affect the availability of fresh water.

Many of us take for granted our access to clean, fresh water, when it’s in fact a very limited resource, and one that is essential for our very survival.

]]> By: Clayton http://blog.longnow.org/2009/11/03/our-daily-bread/comment-page-1/#comment-8521 Clayton Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:23:27 +0000 http://blog.longnow.org/?p=992#comment-8521 It would seem from this story that our future seafood diet will be limited to jellyfish. Not the most savory prospect. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/north-sea-change/ It would seem from this story that our future seafood diet will be limited to jellyfish. Not the most savory prospect.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/north-sea-change/

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