Global Stravation: The imminent global food crisis

Photo by tlindenbaum

The United Nations Food Agency said that rising food prices threatened to plunge 100 million people across the world into hunger.-- Steve Hawkes, Greg Hurst and Valerie Elliott

“This is the new face of hunger — the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago but now are.” -- Josette Sheeran, head of the UN’s World Food Programme, Timesonline

Global Starvation as I've previously discussed is a man-made phenomenon. Unlike the crisis of Global warming/Climate change which may or may not be man-made and even so man can do little to nothing about we can do something about man’s world markets and globalization policies which are what is causing the recent rationing of rice and other world food staples.

SIGNS POINT TO AMERICA’S DECLINE

Speaking at the 2002 World Congress on the Peaceful Reunification of China and World Peace in Sydney, Mr Clinton said this "brief moment in history" when the US had pre-eminent military, economic and political power, would not last.

"This is just a period, a few decades this will last, and I think that all of us who are Americans should think about this and ask ourselves how do we wish this moment to be judged 50 years from now," he said.—The Canberra Times

It’s finally here, the day that Bill Clinton predicted six years ago while speaking at the 2002 World Congress on the Peaceful Reunification of China and World Peace in Sydney Australia. His comments escaped many Americans at that time but nobody is going miss the results of his words as they are coming true right before our eyes.

Clinton forecasted America’s decline. A military, economic and political meltdown that sounds an awful lot like what we’re just beginning to experience in America today.

One has to wonder what he knew exactly. Nevertheless it is becoming painfully obvious that he did know something. The fact is America is in an economic decline. The Euro is replacing the dollar in strength and value, six years of war has placed a crippling toll on the U.S. military, oil and gas prices are the highest that they’ve ever been, the U.S. economy is in recession , banks have caused a world-wide credit crisis and now there is a food shortage.

By and large the one threat that is more imminent than the war on terrorism, Global warming/Climate Change, rising gas prices, the sinking dollar, and the credit/mortgage crisis is Globalization in general and specifically attempting to control food supplies by world markets.

In 1996 the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization was already calling for globalization of world food supplies when it cited that 40 countries faced food shortages since then world food supplies are governed by global commodity markets.

Commodity markets Investors buy sell and trade the food that is produced by farmers and according to this trading the price and availability of food is determined.

Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher.

Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.—Patrice Hill

There are all sorts of markets on which anything from gasoline to carbon credits can be traded, bought and sold. These markets affect supply and cost and can artificially drive the cost up or create an artificial shortage.

However because of World Trade Organization treaties no country any longer has the authority to keep it’s own food supply all food supplies must be available for the world markets according to Canadian Wayne Roberts’ 2006 article, “Grain Drain” found in the Energy Bulletin.

Turns out that if massive disaster strikes, there's enough in the global cupboard to keep people alive on basic grains for 57 days. Two months of survival food is all that separates us from mass starvation due to drought, plagues of locusts and other pests, or the wars and violence that disrupt farming, all of which are more plentiful than food.

And since the World Trade Organization prohibits government intervention that keeps any items off the free trade ledger, there's no law that says Canadians, or any other people, get first dibs on their own food production.--Wanye Roberts

The best known example of this market manipulation was The Enron Corporation that manipulated market prices on electricity by creating artificial shortages thus putting many businesses out of business by artificially driving the price of electricity up thus making it impossible for many small businesses to operate. Enron destroyed many lives through its market exploitation.

Market forces that are similar are at work in everything from Global warming/Climate Change to Business and Banking and are now at work governing your food supply. As more and more countries become less self reliant, not growing their own food supplies, they become more susceptible to supply and demand forces that create shortages as in the Enron example just cited. This Americans is Free Trade!

This is a warning to Americans of what’s in store for us all if we allow our government to give in to the proponents of Kyoto 2 and Global warming profiteers such as Albert Arnold Gore Jr. these entities intend to consolidate power over our economy by cap and trade markets that are meant to regulate CO2 emissions however the reality is if they are allowed the power to levy any kind of tax on the United States they become a de facto unelected governing body over the United States.

WHY IS OUR FOOD SUPPLY IN JEOPARDY?

Experts told The Times yesterday that prices of rice, wheat and vegetable oil would rise further. They also forecast that high prices and shortages — which have caused riots in developing countries such as Bangladesh and Haiti — were here to stay, and that the days of cheap produce would not return.

Food-price inflation has already pushed up a typical family’s weekly shopping bill by 15 per cent in a year.—Steve Hawkes, Greg Hurst and Valerie Elliott

The rice, grain and food shortages are a result the Globalization of world markets combined with using food supplies to create alternative renewable fuel solutions as an answer to Global warming. Both of these practices, Globalization and growing food to burn for energy, are detrimental to humanity and most be stopped.

If there isn’t enough food the very least of our worries is Global warming/Climate Change!

Global Starvation?

Corn grows in a farm field near Seneca, Illinois. Upcoming shortages?


"If we will not endure a king as a political power we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life."—John Sherman

You’re probably like me extremely concerned over who will be in charge of this country’s future. You’re probably equally concerned about the war in Iraq, whether there will be another terrorist attack against America, the reality or the fallacy of Global warming, rising gas prices, or the general corrupting of our culture and you probably want to know who is responsible for corrupting it. Right?

As you think on those things here’s another thing to consider, and its ramifications are far more immediate than Global warming, there is an upcoming crisis with the world food supply and nobody really want you to know. Rising demand for grain to make fuel, food and livestock feed has helped push the prices of corn and soybeans to record prices.

A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club's 14th annual investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday. --Alia McMullen, Financial Post

Who is responsible you ask? Well just who is responsible for shutting down manufacturing in the United States of America for cheap manufacturing sites throughout the world.

Oil used to be pumped from American oil wells but now wells were built in the Middle East enriching some Americans but also enabling the mind boggling wealth that we see in the Middle East, wealth that has enabled terrorist and terrorism against America. Who is the primary cause, the prime movers behind terrorism attacking America today?

Lost your job lately? Was it outsourced to India, China or another cheap labor rich country? Again who’s at fault for what ails America.

Terrorism, Mad Cow disease, Genetically Modified Food, The Health Care Crisis, Poisoned pet food, lead tainted products and toys are all the doing of corporate decisions to maximize profits and minimize corporate cost and now a food shortage?

"The greatest challenge to the world is not US$100 oil; it's getting enough food so that the new middle class can eat the way our middle class does, and that means we've got to expand food output dramatically," -- Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group

Donald Coxe believes that the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry. And at the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn - the main staple of the ethanol industry.

So as you worry about whether Hillary’s tears were real, or if Brittney is wearing panties, or any of the hundred thousands of inconsequential things that we are constantly bombarded with there is a rather focusing reality about to come into affect when you can’t get your Whopper or when there is nothing to prepare at the Aujourd’hui, the most elegant restaurant in Boston because there is no food.

It is time for the American people to get off the defense and take the offense against corporate power, the way it was done in the consumer, environmental and worker areas from 1965 to 1975 and beyond, and move to new frontiers of subordinating the big corporations to the rights and necessities of real people. –Ralph Nader

There is no corporate exit plan to free America from the addiction of foreign oil which they created. Yet we denigrated an American President for having no exit plan out of a war that corporations caused by the wealth that they funneled into the Middle East by their oil exploits.

If corporations had not began using the Middle East as the oil center of the world Islam would not be funding world-wide terrorism with their oil profits. They would have remain powerless tribes running around in the desert cutting one another’s throats rather than buying nuclear facilities now which will allow them to wage an Islam threat against the world.

Likewise if we allow the ethanol industry burn up all the corn to fuel our cars what is the plan to feed the world?

Someone, no, everyone really needs to get our priorities straight before we allow corporate greed to do to food what it’s done to oil and jobs and health care, and…!