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World Hunger 12 Myths

World Hunger 12 Myths. Food First. Text extracted from 12 Myths about Hunger http://www.foodfirst.org/12myths. https://commerce12.pair.com/~pront011/images/pubs/books/wohuco.jpg. Myth 1 Not Enough Food to go Around. Reality: Abundance of food 3,200 calories/person in grains

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World Hunger 12 Myths

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  1. World Hunger 12 Myths Food First Text extracted from 12 Myths about Hunger http://www.foodfirst.org/12myths https://commerce12.pair.com/~pront011/images/pubs/books/wohuco.jpg

  2. Myth 1Not Enough Food to go Around • Reality: • Abundance of food • 3,200 calories/person in grains • Also vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, grass-fed meats, fish. • Most people too poor to buy the food • Many hungry countries are net exporters of food Vietnam food market http://www.alpha-random.com/pics/vietnam-food-market.jpg

  3. Myth 2Nature is to Blame for Famine • Reality: • Food is always available • to those who can afford it • Starvation hits the poorest • Human institutions, policies • determine who will eat during hard times • Millions live near disaster • Deprived of land • Debt • Low pay • Society values economic efficiency over compassion Famine in Ethiopia http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/img/indepth/0505_poss-famine-insurance.jpg

  4. Myth 3Too Many People • Reality: • World is undergoing demographic transition • Birth rates dropping due to decline in death rates • No direct correlation between population and hunger • Hunger in Nigeria • Sparsely populated • Wealth in Netherlands • Densely populated • Population growth due to poverty and inequity • People’s lives must improve before birth rates drop http://www.bvallc.com/pensionblog/uploaded_images/Crowd-702052.jpg

  5. Myth 4The Environment vs. More Food? • Reality: • Environmental crisis • is threatening food production • Efforts to feed the hungry • are not causing the environmental crisis • Profits for developed countries are the problem • Deforestation • Pesticides Deforestation in Brazil for hardwoods http://www.realestatetwincities.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/istock_000003249271devastation480x319.jpg

  6. Myth 5The Green Revolution is the Answer • Reality: • Green Revolution: • Huge production advances with improved seeds • But economic power • Still concentrated in hands of a few • Poor cannot afford to buy grain • Hunger persists while grain exports have increased • India • Mexico • Philippines “Father” of the Green Revolution http://www.nbipsr.org/images/normbor.jpg

  7. Myth 6We Need Large Farms • Reality: • Large landowners control best land • Often leave much of it idle • Often inefficiently farmed by tenet farmers • No incentive • Small farmers • 4-5 X output/acre • Work more intensively • Land Reform • Distributes land to small farmers • Successful in raising yields Bolivian Farmer http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/images/wsci_01_img0012.jpg

  8. Myth 7The Free Market Can End Hunger • Reality: • Market is efficient in distributing food • If you can buy it • To end world hunger via the market • Must have widely dispersed purchasing power • Is a role for government to help disperse purchasing power to the poor • Through taxes, credits, land reforms Kenya Market http://bp0.blogger.com/_D16GLAdKeZI/RfsmAW-yhTI/AAAAAAAAAQI/TmliZn1dSmA/s400/Market.jpg

  9. Myth 8Free Trade is the Answer • Reality • In poorest countries • Exports boomed, hunger worsened • Brazilian soybeans • Feed cattle in Europe and Japan • Brazilian hunger grows • NAFTA: “race for the bottom” • Working people pitted against one another • 1 million jobs lost in U.S. • 1.3 million jobs lost in Mexico Soybean Harvest in Brazil http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/04/05/business/soy600.jpg

  10. Myth 9Too Hungry to Fight for Their Rights • Reality • People do fight for their rights • Mexico • South Africa • People will feed themselves if allowed to • We need only remove the obstacles we have placed in their way • Large corporations • U.S. Government policies • World Bank and IMF Zapatistas in Mexico http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/images/ezln_campaign.jpg

  11. Myth 10More U.S. Aid Will Help the Hungry • Reality: • Most U.S. Aid works directly against the hungry • Aid used to • Impose free trade • Promote exports • Provide arms • Emergency humanitarian Aid • Only 8% of total • Undercuts grain production in receiving country • Benefits U.S. Grain companies • Little reaches the poor • Best Aid: relieve Debt burden http://www.bread.org/assets/images/learn/food-aid.jpg

  12. Myth 11We Benefit from Their Poverty • Reality: • Continued world poverty and hunger • is a threat to American • Jobs, wages • Working conditions • Helping free others from oppression • Helps free us too Sweat Shop in India http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/clipart/jpeg/IndiaLarge/sweatshop_mumbai.jpeg

  13. Myth 12Curtail Freedom to End Hunger? • Reality: • Civil liberties • Not threatened by ending hunger • Economic security for all • Guarantees liberty • Consistent with our nation’s founding vision • Important for ending hunger • Right to unlimited accumulation of wealth? • Not compatible with ending hunger • Contributes to inequity • Unjust http://k43.pbase.com/u36/jwalk/large/23732152.mansion.jpg

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