Nature of Food and Poverty

1. Nature of Food and Poverty Canadian & World Issues Courtesy of C. Marlatt

2. Natural Resources - Biomes

3. Natural Resources - Biomes

4. Carbon Dioxide Emissions

5. Ecology vs. Economy It is becoming increasingly apparent that the major problems of our times cannot be understood in isolation. The threat of nuclear war, the devastation of our natural environment, the persistence of poverty along with progress even in the richest countries — these are not isolated problems. They are different facets of one single crisis, which is essentially a crisis of perception.

6. Ecology with Economy The paradigm that is now receding has dominated our culture for several hun­dred years. This paradigm consists of a number of ideas and values… …the belief in unlimited material progress to be achieved through economic and tech­nological growth… In recent decades, all of these assumptions have been found to be severely limited and in need of radical revision.

7. Nature of Food and Poverty • The Importance of Food • Geography of Hunger and Poverty • Factors Affecting Food Supply • The Poverty Cycle

8. The Importance of Food • In the Global Village of 100 people, the villagers have many animals. They help to produce food or are a source of food. They are: • 31 sheep and goats • 23 cows, bulls, and oxen • 15 pigs • 3 camels • 2 horses • 189 chickens (yes, there are nearly TWICE as many chickens as people in the Global Village!)

9. The Importance of Food • There is no shortage of food in the Global Village. If all the food were divided equally, everyone would have enough to eat. But the food is not divided equally…. So, although there is enough food to feed the villagers, not everyone is well fed: • 60 people are always hungry, and 26 of these are severely undernourished • 16 other people go to bed hungry at least some of the time • Only 24 people always have enough to eat.

10. The Importance of Food • In 1966, the United Nations declared that people have a universal right to adequate food. In your opinion, is an adequate food supply a human right? “Feed the family and trade the leftovers.” “Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere.” "They will hunger no more, and thirst no more." (Revelation 7:16)Throughout Scripture, God offers abundance and an end to hunger.

11. The Importance of Food Why is food a right? • Sufficient Life Goods (B&J) • Right versus Need! • Right to adequate food is a human right (UN 2002) Why does hunger require acts of justice rather than acts of charity? • Land ownership What are development and underdevelopment? • Access to, Credit; Fertilizer; Seeds and irrigation; Extension Services Why is it important to redistribute the means of producing food than it is to redistribute the food directly? • "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time."

12. The Importance of Food • Why do we eat? • Meets the physiological (cell replacement & growth), psychological, and cultural needs • Food is also required for ENERGY • The body burns kilojoules (produced from food ingested) • 1 kJ = the amount of energy required to move a mass of one kilogram a distance of 1 meter at an acceleration of 1 m/s • The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a standard of 10 000 kJ/person on a daily basis

13. The Importance of Food • How is energy consumed? • Metabolism – basic body functions such as breathing, muscle action, blood circulation, maintaining constant body temperature (36.9°C) • Physical Growth – requirements peak at 15 – 17 years of age, body maturity and cell replacements • Physical Activity – walking consumes 1000 kJ/day, energy required for work varies depending on type of work

14. The Importance of Food • What are the sources of kilojoules? • Carbohydrates • Sugars and starch • Wheat, corn, rice and potato • Easy to produce food and widely available • Proteins • Meat, milk products, eggs, fish (first class proteins), wheat, vegetables (second class proteins) • Are used as a measure of the quality of a nation’s diet • Are often expensive and scare • Are the basic building blocks of cells (amino acids) • Average intake of proteins should be 56 g/day

15. The Importance of Food • What are the sources of kilojoules? (continued) • Fats • Butter, lard, egg yolk, vegetable oil • Most concentrated form of food energy • If energy is not burned, it is stored by the body • The body also needs… • Minerals such as calcium and iron • Vitamins such as A, B, C • Fibre – good for digestion • Water

16. The Importance of Food • What are the factors affecting energy intake? • Age • Size • Climate (the colder the climate the more kJ required) • Sex • Activity • Eating habits

17. The Importance of Food • Daily Average Food Availability • There are 4.186 kilojoules (kJ) in 1 calorie • National average food availability is measured in kilojoules per capita per day (kJ/c/d) • Calculate the percentage of each country’s national average food availability to the Standard Nutrition Unit of 10 350 kJ/c/d • e.g. Canada’s national average food availability = 14 576 • 14 576 ÷ 10 350 x 100 = 140% • Create a shaded pattern to illustrate over/under SNU • Describe overall pattern and any anomolies

18. The Importance of Food Who’s hogging the calories? It takes approximately 2,500 calories a day to make the human body work the way it should. In some developing countries, there just isn’t enough food to provide that requirement. And to make matters worse, food isn’t equally distributed, so that a very few have much more than they need. Create a map to show the food availability in the world using the data and map provided.

19. The Importance of Food

20. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • The next few slides are to be read silently by everyone in the room. • Take the time to internalize each slide as you read it.

21. Picture This! You’ve just come home from school, and you’re starving. You open the fridge door to grab that nice, juicy, left-over piece of pepperoni and cheese pizza and – whoa! It’s empty. Nothing but wire racks and glass shelves and that stain where you spilled the orange juice. Oh well, how about a fudgesicle from the freezer? You rush downstairs, lift the lid, and - whoa! It’s empty. Nothing but a two inch layer of ice. Time to scrape the bottom of the barrel: an energy bar from the cupboard. You whip upstairs, open the door, and – guess what. Your stomach begins to growl. You feel little weak. And all you can think about is food.

22. Picture This! Welcome to the rest of the world. For 925 million of the earth’s people, the cupboard is always empty. In the morning. At lunch. After school or work. At supper. Before bed. Always!

23. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • It is one week later and the only food you’ve eaten is some bread and water. • You have lost weight as your body draws from its reserves. • Imagine the feeling of hunger now. • Imagine how your ability to perform simple tasks has been affected. • Imagine the situation continuing for months… • years… • or a lifetime… • Any thoughts, feelings, or consequences of hunger that you mentally visualized?

24. Geography of Poverty & Hunger

25. Geography of Poverty & Hunger

26. Geography of Poverty & Hunger What’s the Problem, Really? (Check the one you think is right) Lack of world food supplies (not enough food to feed everyone) Drought, flood and other disasters Laziness Lack of money to buy food Too many mouths to feed Ignorance of modern farming methods Watch the video: Hunger, Not So Far Away!

27. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Having a bad day? … Then don’t read this. • A child between the ages of 7 and 12 needs 2,100 to 2,500 calories a day for healthy development. A rural African child gets about 830. • 40,000 infants and young children will die today from hunger. That’s 27 children a minute. Now, let’s test your hunger knowledge! Use the PP handout to answer the following questions about hunger.

28. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • What is the most important factor contributing to hunger? • Weather • Poverty • Population • War • On which continent(s) is hunger NOT increasing? • South America • North America • Africa • Asia

29. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • What hunger program do many Canadian university campuses have in common? • “The income gap between the rich and poor around the world is growing.” True or False? • An acre of cereals can produce _____ protein an acre devoted to meat production can produce. • one fifth the • the same amount of • five times the

30. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Which gender suffers more poverty and hunger? ٱ men ٱ women • Which gender generally has greater success in development programs? ٱ men ٱ women • What percentage of Canada’s aid program is currently spent on meeting basic human needs of the poor? • 10% • 20% • 30% • 50%

31. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • The main cause of Hunger is poverty. (T or F) • The average North American kid consumes fifty times more of the world’s resources than a kid in the developing world. (T of F) • “Haven’t these people herd of birth control?” If your family is going hungry, there’s one simple solution: have fewer children, right?(T or F) • Women hold the key to ending hunger. (T or F)

32. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Reasons for big Families in developing countries: • More kids so that a few can survive (due to poor conditions – poverty) • More hands on the fields for work (labour is cheap, tractors are expensive) • More kids to go to the cities & work in factories and send $ back home • More kids for pension reasons (look after you when you get older) • Some kids are sold: to the rich; sex trade • Some kids are crippled so that they can beg on the streets All in all this is a thought-out solution to poverty • Labour is cheap (kids are cheap); technology is expensive • This is a way in which people are trying to develop their own self-sufficiency

33. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Watch Famine and Chronic Persistent Hunger • What is the difference between chronic persistent hunger and famine?

34. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Starvation is a state of suffering caused by not having enough food to sustain life. • Famine is an extreme scarcity of food that occurs when the resource base shrinks because of a natural phenomenon such as drought. • Cash crops are agricultural products that are grown solely for sale, rather than for consumption by the growers. • Chronic hunger is a condition in which essential nutrients are excluded from the diet over an extended period. • Malnutrition is a condition in which there is a deficiency of one or more proteins, minerals, or vitamins in a diet.

35. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Solutions to Hunger • Need a new era of thinking (paradigm) • Does population growth cause poverty, or does poverty cause population growth? • Opportunity • Education & health • Pure water & effective sanitation • Vaccination • Family planning seminars • Access to land & seeds • Reallocation of Resources • Food distribution

36. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Why do diets differ around the world? • Culture & Taboos – according to certain religions, certain foods may or may not be eaten • Money – Canadians have the opportunity to purchase many types of exotic foods (NA meat based diet) • Nutrition – many people focus on eating healthy often times nutritious foods are rather costly • Environment – many diets are based in what can be grown in a certain area • Mystique/Status - it is a status symbol to eat meat

37. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Diet For a Small Planet is a 1971 bestselling book by Frances Moore Lappé, the first book to expose the enormous waste built into U.S. grain-fed meat production—for her a symbol of a global food system creating hunger out of plenty. Eating a planet-centered diet, she argued, means choosing what is best for the earth and our bodies—a daily action that reminds us of our power to create a saner world.

38. Geography of Poverty & Hunger What is a Ruminant Animal? Many different species of ruminant animals are found around the world. Ruminants include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, giraffes and camels. These animals all have a digestive system that is uniquely different from our own. Instead of one compartment to the stomach they have four. Of the four compartments the rumen is the largest section and the main digestive centre. The rumen is filled with billions of tiny microorganisms that are able to break down grass and other coarse vegetation that animals with one stomach (including humans, chickens and pigs) cannot digest.

39. Geography of Poverty & Hunger

40. Geography of Poverty & Hunger

41. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Meat Mystique! • Changing eating habits • Exporting the meat based diet • Americans spend $110 billion a year on meat-intensive fast food, and its growing popularity around the world may be a factor in dramatic increases in global meat consumption. • The amount of meat Americans eat in two weeks, the Chinese eat in a YEAR!

42. Geography of Poverty & Hunger Health risks of too much meat! • Heart Disease • Cancer (colorectal) • High blood pressure

43. Geography of Poverty & Hunger

44. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • WatchSupersize Me • Write a one-page position paper on “The North American Perception of Food” • Use Diet For A Small Planet for reference material

45. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • The global food system is based on large scale commercialization, domination by large transnational corporations who control trade and pricing in food commodities and vast amounts of farmers, workers, and land and on an increasing emphasis on growing cash-crops for export. • Many developing countries are economically dependent on single commodities. Commodity and food prices have not risen significantly in the past decade while the cost of input has risen dramatically.

46. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • The global food system responded to the demands of rapidly growing population throughout the second half of the twentieth century with some success. • BUT not all the world’s peoples enjoyed this expansion of food supplies (with problems such as the depletion of fish stocks and the exhaustion of farmland). • It is clear that our present methods of producing, processing, and distributing food will NOT solve world hunger.

47. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • We are part of a global food system. The peanut farmer in Senegal is probably not producing food for local needs. The pressure to produce cash crops for export over domestic food crops is huge. This might be best exemplified by the Global Chocolate Bar! • Sugar - • Cocoa - • Peanuts - • Palm Oil - • Coconut Oil - • Soybean Oil - • Milk - } NICARAGUA IVORY COAST SENEGAL MALAYSIA THE PHILIPPINES BRAZIL CANADA

48. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Myths & Facts - Read the dozen statements regarding world hunger and determine whether they are myths or facts. • Explanations - Identify as many reasons for global hunger that you can. • Solutions – What sorts of steps could governments take to try to ensure that everyone’s needs are met (large-scale farmers, small-scale farmers, and the hungry poor)? What could YOU do?

49. Geography of Poverty & Hunger • Read “The Geography of Poverty and Wealth” by Jeffrey Sachs, Andrew Mellinger, and John Gallup from Scientific American and answer the questions that follow it.

50. Factors Affecting Food Supply • Plants & Animals • Government Policy • Traditional Food Production • Cash Crops & Agribusinesses • Modern Food Production • Environmental Deterioration • Pests • Control of Land • Military Spending • Natural Hazards • Foreign Aid