A Cynic Meets Hope

September 13, 2011

azspot:
“ Andy Singer
**“Ivette Perfecto, who has spent her career studying how farmers can work with nature instead of against it, says that focusing on land sharing versus land sparing entirely misses the point on global hunger.
"The problem of...

Andy Singer
**“Ivette Perfecto, who has spent her career studying how farmers can work with nature instead of against it, says that focusing on land sharing versus land sparing entirely misses the point on global hunger.
"The problem of hunger and starvation in the world is largely a consequence of access to food that is already available, and increasing per hectare productivity especially in large-scale monocultures is not likely to change this problem, which is fundamentally a socioeconomic and political one,” Perfecto told mongabay.com, adding that, “the need to feed the world should not be used as an excuse to continue with an agricultural model that degrades the environment and has failed to eliminate hunger in the world."
As of 2009 a billion people in the world—the most in history—suffered from hunger, despite the fact that there is more than enough food to go around…”
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0901-hance_landsaving.html?homepg
** “Debt is an efficient tool. It ensures access to other peoples’ raw materials and infrastructure on the cheapest possible terms. Dozens of countries must compete for shrinking export markets and can export only a limited range of products because of Northern protectionism and their lack of cash to invest in diversification. Market saturation ensues, reducing exporters’ income to a bare minimum while the North enjoys huge savings. The IMF cannot seem to understand that investing in … [a] healthy, well-fed, literate population … is the most intelligent economic choice a country can make.”