[GJM] Fw: [globalnetnews-summary] Food crisis threatens 100m: UN

[mary rose]

Comments interspersed below - Mary Rose

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Nelson" <m_nelson at aperdat.com>
To: "'mary rose'" <maryrose333 at att.net>
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:43 PM
Subject: RE: [globalnetnews-summary] Food crisis threatens 100m: UN


Sure, Mary Rose, many many of us feel the same as you. And many of us are
 impatiently awaiting the end of this travesty of 300, 1000, 5000, maybe
 10,000 years. You're right that money is only a problem if "we" let it be,
 but I think that one of the reasons that folks who really would be willing
 to share the world's gifts with all can't figure out how to do that is that
 they are caught up in our inadequate language. For example, in the article
 from China Daily it quotes "The Asian Development Bank said there was 
enough
 food to go round, and the key was to help the poor afford it." See, "afford
 it". That means money. They just can't cognize handing a hungry child a 
bowl
 of rice. Like, child, mouth, rice.

Mary you make a really good point here.  What I see here is that with the 
world
trade policy, theoretically there are supposed to be enough jobs created in 
order
that the people who have been driven off of the lands needed for subsistence
farming will be able to earn enough money to purchase food and other 
necessities.
However, that isn't the case especially when, as we have discussed so often, 
with
technological advances taking their toll and making human labor
less necessary, there aren't enough jobs to go around to ensure
everyone employment. And many of the jobs that are available
do not pay a living wage. You have people in the developing
countries working for $1 a day.  While at the same time you have
American exports of grain coming into the country, which because
they are subsidized by the American taxpayer, can be sold at less
than what local producers can produce for. So, the local grain
producers are forced out of  business. But, still the land is not
made available to people whose only way of obtaining food is through
subsistence farming.  Much of the land is used to raise cattle instead
of letting it be used to feed people. Or, in many instances, the land is
used to grow coffee and other exotics for export to the developed
world.  But these plantations still are unable to employ as many people
as could be supported by subsistence farming on the same amount
of acreage.  So, instead of seeing that people are fed first, the main
priority is "export for sale" and people come last.  So, due to land use
policies, a few profit and millions go hungry.

And, while you are right about handing a hungry child a bowl of rice,
from what I am getting from the news stories crossing my desk, the
agencies who are charged with providing food through donations,
simply are not now receiving the funding necessary to purchase the
supplies in order to continue passing out food.  Especially since the
price of grain and other foods is increasing.

So, one of the biggest factors here is what can land be used for that
will bring in the greatest amount of money. For instance, growing
poppies and marijuana for the drug trade is increasing dramatically
because the demand for illegal drugs is increasing worldwide, and
poppies and marijuana command a higher price than food so the
profit factor is much higher.  And those employed in the illegal
drug trade are paid much higher wages than those employed in
the production of food.  So, what do hungry people do -- they
go to work for the drug cartels -- much better than starving to
death -- at least for some. And it has to be recognized that most
of the top echelon in the worldwide drug cartels, are not drug
users.  They are highly educated people competing in the marketplace
for their fair share of the world's wealth.  Many of these people
have children and do not want their children to enter into their
business.  A look at the Soprano's and the movie series entitled
"The Godfather" reveals the truth about who the people involved
in the drug trade are.  But, they aren't all bad, many of them
because they are intelligent people who want their children to have
a better life, invest in green technology. And, many of them, like
Al Pacino, as shown in the last of the Godfather series, donate millions
of dollars to the Catholic Church in order to buy forgiveness for
their sins. And, in this world of today, there will be many men and
women, who will turn to the drug and mafia trade for employment
in order to maintain their lifestyle, get their kids through college,
and keep food on the table when they are laid off from the corporations.
They will be the very nice couple living next door to you, who donate
to the local charities, go to church on Sundays, and run for political
office.  But, there will be those exceptions who will thumb their noses
at money and the lifestyle, take their lumps and join the rest of the
poor.  These are the people who have developed a different kind of
consciousness and who can't be bought. They have no price.  But
yet, maybe people like this can't and don't accomplish as much as those
who have the money are capable of doing if it is directed in the right 
manner.
Does the end justify the means?

Mary N. continues:
 Somehow we are entranced by our money system. There's something sinister
 about it. And "sinister" makes people avoid trying to understand it. 
Quantum
Mechanics, nuclear physics, chaos, internal combustion engines, brain
 surgery, hey, we can do it. The money system - yikes! And because we're
 stupefied, "they" can manipulate it and us any way they want. But push is
 indeed coming to shove. And you're doing exactly the right thing - being as
 prepared as possible. Encouraging other to do the same. And, I think,
 psychological (heart) preparation is as important as any other because we
 just don't know how it will play out or exactly what the results of our
 preparatory actions will be.

 And I know you really know why the hemp restriction. "They" can't let one
 tiny piece of the system go the way of common sense as it would be a
 slippery slope. And the drug money is essential to their military 
activities
 around the world.

 It's kind of like gays in the military. If they approve of and let men love
 other men, even just friends, they might be unwilling to kill other men who
 are designated enemies. Actually, there is a kind of "common sense" to 
that,
 once one is under the spell of war being essential. Maybe "common sense" is
 totally related to consciousness.

 Hang in there, we're with you.

 MaryNelson

Thanks, Mary -- lot's of food for thought here.

Why I don't pay a lot of attention to the monetary system is that it is 
something that I can't do anything about except to "give it soul" and do 
what I can to direct money it in an ethical manner as much as is possible. 
You know the saying: "God give me the ability to change what I can, accept 
what I can't, and the common sense to know the difference."  So, I've made 
peace with the system -- it doesn't eat away at me. And, as I have known for 
a long time, a system such as this will eventually implode.  So, I wait for 
that day and from the evidence I see coming across my desktop, that day is 
not far off.  In the meantime, I do whatever it is I can do.

with love and in gratitude for all that we do together, Mary

mary rose


 -----Original Message-----
 From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net]
 Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:25 PM
 To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com
 Subject: Fw: [globalnetnews-summary] Food crisis threatens 100m: UN

> This crisis demands that people everywhere begin to raise their own food 
> and
> stop relying on world trade networks to provide what can be produced at
> home.
>
> One of the many reasons I see a need for community learning and 
> information
> centers is the necessity for "information gathering" in order to assess 
> the
> needs of any given community before the crisis occurs.  If there was a 
> world
> database set up on the Internet, which provided the assessment for each
> community, and communities were linked together via the Net, then when a
> food crisis occurred communities with the direst needs could be sent
> supplies ASAP from communities who had excess stored so as to avoid people
> going hungry.  But the key to this to to help people learn how to raise
> their own food, and to assure that every community has enough land on 
> which
> people may grow their own food for subsistence.  AND, this has to take
> precedence over using land for the raising of cattle unless the land is
> unsuitable for the growing of produce.
>
> The world has to get it that cycling grain through beef and/or dairy 
> cattle
> is not an efficient way to create food.  In fact, cycling grain through 
> any
> type of animal in order to produce food is not an efficient use of a 
> product
> aimed at supplyiing food.
>
> And, we need to rethink what types of grain should be grown. One of the 
> most
> efficient would be hemp. Hemp can be used to make 20,000 different 
> products,
> including paper. And is one of the strongest of materials known to 
> humankind
> However, hemp can also be eaten in the form of food products. i.e.
> hempburgers, and cheese.  And it is highly nutritious.  It is a "no-till"
> grain, needs little water and can be grown without fertilizer in poor 
> soil.
>
> Yet the U.S. inhibits its growth because it is a distant cousin of
> marijuana, yet has no hallucinogenic qualities.  While at the same time we
> grow corn to make ethanol?  Hemp could easily be used to make ethanol as
> well, I think.
>
> Is anyone else around here besides me confused about what goes on the
> prohibits good things and promotes bad things.
>
> Don't we need to straighten this mess out and begin using some common 
> sense?
>
> BTW, in the war against drugs, the important thing is to "stop the demand"
> and not the supplier.  As long as demand exists, and there is money to be
> made from it, suppliers will find a way to meet demand.
>
> You know, I am tired of living in a left-brain linear thinking society 
> that
> doesn't know its a-- from a hole in the ground.
>
> Does anyone else have the same feelings?
>
> You know, money only controls us IF we let it.
>
> mary rose
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "GlobalCirclenet" <webmaster at globalcircle.net>
> To: <globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:06 AM
> Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Food crisis threatens 100m: UN
>
>
>
> (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to
> http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary)
>
> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-04/23/content_6636342.htm
>
>
> Food crisis threatens 100m: UN
> (China Daily)
> Updated: 2008-04-23 06:26
>
> LONDON: A "silent tsunami" unleashed by costlier food threatens 100 
> million
> people, the United Nations said Tuesday, but views differed as to how to
> stop it.
>
> The Asian Development Bank said there was enough food to go round, and the
> key was to help the poor afford it. It said Asian governments which have
> curbed food exports were over-reacting.
>
> In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain would seek changes to 
> EU
>
> biofuels targets if it was shown that planting crops for fuel was driving 
> up
>
> food prices - a day after the bloc stood by its plans to boost biofuel 
> use.
>
> Britain also pledged $900 million to help the UN World Food Programme
> alleviate immediate problems and address longer-term solutions to "help 
> put
> food on the table for nearly a billion people going hungry across the
> world".
>
> The World Food Programme, whose head Josette Sheeran took part in a 
> meeting
> of experts Brown called yesterday to discuss the crisis, said a "silent
> tsunami" threatened to plunge over 100 million people on every continent
> into hunger.
>
> "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," Sheeran said ahead of
> the meeting.
>
> "The response calls for large-scale, high-level action by the global
> community, focused on emergency and longer-term solutions."
>
> The WFP said this was the biggest challenge in its 45-year history. Riots 
> in
>
> poor Asian and African countries have followed steep rises in food prices
> caused by many factors - dearer fuel, bad weather, rising disposable 
> incomes
>
> boosting demand and the conversion of land to grow crops to be turned into
> biofuel.
>
> "The era of cheap food is over," said Rajat Nag, managing director general
> of the Asian Development Bank.
>
> Rice from Thailand, the world's top exporter, has more than doubled this
> year but Nag urged Asian governments not to distort markets with export
> curbs, and instead use fiscal measures to help the poor.
>
> "We want to temper what we think is a bit of an over-reaction. There is
> still enough supply," he said.
>
> India and Vietnam have limited exports, hoping to tame prices at home -
> while goading them higher abroad.
>
> "Banning of exports is no different from hoarding at a national level," 
> Nag
> said.
>
> The comments from the ADB echoed statements by the International Monetary
> Fund and the United Nations, urging countries to ensure more funds in the
> hands of the poor to buy food, instead of resorting to protectionist trade
> barriers.
>
> Other aid officials have used more dramatic language.
>
> UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said dearer food risked wiping out
> progress on cutting poverty and his special rapporteur on the right to 
> food,
>
> Jean Ziegler, said rises were leading to "mass murder".
>
> Brown raised further doubts about the wisdom of using crops to help 
> produce
> fuel, an idea whose recent popularity in the US and Europe has been dented
> by fears it harms the environment and makes food dearer.
>
> "We need to look closely at the impact on food prices and the environment 
> of
>
> different production methods and to ensure we are more selective in our
> support (for biofuels)," he said.
>
> "If our UK review shows that we need to change our approach, we will also
> push for change in EU biofuels targets."
>
> The EU's executive Commission on Monday stood by its target of getting 10
> percent of road transport fuel from crops and agricultural waste by 2020.
>
> Brown called for more research into higher-yielding crop varieties that 
> can
> withstand harsh climates and for an agricultural revolution in developing
> countries.
>
> A global trade deal that opened up markets in rich countries was also
> needed, he said.
>
>
>
>