Economic Wheels of Food:

1. Economic Wheels of Food: GOOD FOOD WEALTH AND KNOWLEDGE GOOD HEALTH ENERGY AND ACTIVITY HIGH PRODUCTIVITY

2. POOR FOOD POVERTY AND IGNORANCE POOR HEALTH LOW PRODUCTIVITY TIREDNESS

3. Some key terms: Malnutrition: Lack of nutrients caused by an imbalance in the quality of the food. People can eat all they want and still be malnourished Starvation: Lack of food. 2/3 of the world’s children live in developing countries where malnutrition is a way of life. Malnutrition can lead to death, blindness, mental retardation, physical impairment, and diseases. 1/4 of the world eat too much, 3/4 eat too little. North Americans are at the point where we are eating too much in both quantity and poor quality.

4. North Americans eat too many animal fats that can lead to ‘Arteriosclerosis’ (hardening of the arteries – heart disease) • OBVIOUSLY ONE POSSIBLE SOLUTION COULD BE: • This one is easy and simple (or is it?). If a country cannot feed itself all it has to do is go out and buy the food. • In order to buy food you need money. • The countries that have no food, have no money. • REASONS FOR HAVING NO MONEY: • They cannot produce and/or sell manufactured goods.- no raw materials- lack of technology to extract – developed countries exploit the natural resource, in other words the rich countries remove the resource at a cheap price (OPEC was created to stop this kind of exploitation)

5. - cannot compete on the world market There are a few exceptions or success stories – Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland – low wages, excellent work force, supportive government, invisible trade (e.g. transfer payments, funds from NGOs) and aid from developed nations. 2. These countries that have no money earn very little from ‘Invisible Exports’ – Tourism, Banking, Insurance etc.Brazil, Mexico and The Bahamas are trying to build an economy partially on tourism. 3. In some cases, governments may be corrupt or are spending money on developing the military.

6. Improving the situation • Luckily food is a ‘Renewable Resource’. • There are three possible solutions to improving the food situation: • Changing the distribution of existing food supplies. • Increasing the quantities of food available. • Coping with dry conditions or poor soil fertility. • CHANGING THE DISTRIBUTION OF EXISTING FOOD SUPPLIES • A. Rich countries have a surplus of food. The world has enough food; it’s the unequal distribution of food that is the problem.

7. When rich countries have a food surplus they sometimes: • Set the price artificially high that the poor countries cannot afford to buy the food. • The poorer countries often cannot afford food produced by wealthier nations, even at break-even prices (expenses and revenues are even). • The surplus is not always readily shipped to needier nations, due to political issues. • Sometimes the wealthier farmers will flood the markets, making it difficult for smaller, poorer farmers to compete on an international level. • The rich countries place tariffs on imported goods thus making it difficult for the poor farmer to compete, or subsidize domestic producers (examples?)

8. Agriculture subsidies mean the financial assistance provided by government to farmers through government-sponsored price-support programs. The objective behind providing agriculture subsidies is to provide benefits to farmers and thereby stabilize food prices, ensure plentiful food production, and to guarantee basic income to farmers. In U.S. and France, agricultural subsidies are designed to increase farm income by raising the long-term level of prices above free-market levels or by providing direct payments to farmers. Agricultural subsidy helps to influence the cost and supply of commodities such as wheat, feed grains, cotton, milk, rice, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, and oilseeds such as soybeans.

9. Tariff:A tax imposed on imported goods and services. Tariffs are used to restrict trade, as they increase the price of imported goods and services, making them more expensive to consumers. They are one of several tools available to shape trade policy. Governments may impose tariffs to raise revenue or to protect domestic industries from foreign competition, since consumers will generally purchase cheaper foreign produced goods. Tariffs can lead to less efficient domestic industries, and can lead to trade wars as exporting countries reciprocate with their own tariffs on imported goods. Organizations such as the WTO exist to combat the use of egregious tariffs.

11. The solution to the previous slides are: • Set up an international reserve such as a food bank (obviously this will only apply to certain types of agricultural products; perishables would not be included) The surplus food goes there and can be used by the poor countries. • Set up a New World Order, re-organize the world’s economy to remove tariffs and make trade more equitable – this is a big step. Globalization promises to do this! • Foreign Aid/Development Assistance – In case of famine – some counties welcome it, some countries do not want assistance. Try a Grass Roots approach:“Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, teach them how to fish and you feed them for a life time”

12. Old method of giving aid: FOOD AID! RICH Barriers like corruption, lack of infrastructure, taxes, high prices POOR The food does not always get to the neediest nations.

13. The Grass Roots approach: FOOD POOR RICH In this case the poor get the aid first. The aid should not be free food, but education to teach them how to feed themselves.