Haiti: Stuffed and Starved

Behind the food crisis

RAJ PATEL, author of the just-released book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel said today: "What's happening in Haiti is an augury to the rest of the developing world.

Haiti is the poster child of an economy that liberalized its agricultural economy and removed the social safety nets for the poor, despite the protests of the majority of its people. Food riots throughout history have happened when two conditions have been
fulfilled. First, there has always been a sudden and rapid discrepancy between what people expect to be able to eat, and what they can actually feed their families. The price shocks around the world have introduced this discrepancy, and the politics that might have dampened them -- grain reserves, tariffs, support for sustainable farmers -- have been eroded by modern development policies.

"But the second feature of food riots in history is that riots happen when there are no other ways of making powerful people listen. Like many other countries in the developing world, Haiti has been forced to liberalize its economy despite popular opposition -- in other words, modern development policy has been forced to be anti-democratic. And since there has been no effective way for the people to hold their leaders accountable, we're seeing riots not just in Haiti, but in places as diverse as Mexico, India, Egypt, Senegal and even Italy. It's something to expect to see with increasing frequency, until governments realize that food isn't a mere commodity, it's a human right" (Hat-tip to The Institute for Public Accuracy)

Haiti and The King Canute of Food | Stuffed and Starved

Part of the more recent intervention came under Reagan and Clinton. When a group of US-funded guerillas deposed Jean Bertrand Aristide, Clinton imposed some harsh trade liberalization conditions as the price Aristide would have to pay to get back into power. It’s this gunboat diplomacy that, Aristide says, tied his hands behind his back in terms of fiscal policy.

Aristide was subsequently deposed when he tried to untie his hands – the current Bush administration bankrolled a coup against him, and only guaranteed his life if he left immediately.

That history is one that is erased. The fact that Haiti produced more rice in 1984 than it does now isn’t an accident. The fact that the bags of rice to be found in Haiti have US flags stamped on them is no accident.

See also __the state of gareth__: Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites!

SA Corporate Giants Come Clean? � The Antidote

This report, originally published in The big issue, shows who is responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa.

SA Corporate Giants Come Clean? � The Antidote:

As a country, South Africa is characterised by a frivolous and hedonistic attitude towards global warming. Bond makes the shocking point that we have “an emissions output per person per unit of GDP twenty times worse than the US”. Yes, the industrialised countries of the developed world are to blame for much of our current climate predicament, but we had better clean up our own backyard and soon, or such accusations will sound increasingly hollow and hypocritical.

SA’s Top Carbon Emitters:

1. Eskom
2. Sasol
3. BHP Billiton
4. Anglo American
5. Sappi

Resilient communities: A guide to disaster management

Resilient communities: A guide to disaster management | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse: "The following is a proposal to help make communities better able to respond to the coming economic shocks from resource depletion, beginning with Peak Oil, and perhaps also to shocks from other causes (such as the ongoing subprime mortgage and credit collapse).

In searching for a name for the strategy, I have settled on the phrase 'Resilient Communities,' which comes with considerable baggage—useful baggage in this instance. Once I have described and discussed the proposal, I will offer some background materials regarding the terms resilience and resilient communities, mentioning some other projects that have used the same title or that pursue similar goals."

Hat-tip to The Western Confucian.

Scientists blame ocean dead zones on climate change

Scientists blame ocean dead zones on climate change: "Although scientists continue to amass data and tease out the details, all signs in the search for a cause point to stronger winds associated with a warming planet.

If this theory holds up, it means that global warming and the build-up of heat-trapping gases are bringing about oceanic changes beyond those previously documented: a rise in sea level, more acidic ocean water and the bleaching of coral reefs."

Shockingly unprepared for the coming end of oil

Shockingly unprepared for the coming end of oil: "Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight without Oil, by Richard Gilbert and Anthony Perl, is one of the most thought-provoking books to cross my desk in a long while. Gilbert is an urban issues consultant and former York University professor and municipal politician in Toronto. Perl is director of SFU's urban studies program.

Their book is an eyebrow-raiser, portraying a future that's around the corner as oil production is projected to hit a peak and start declining around 2012. In adapting to peak oil, the way we move ourselves and domestic and international freight will change as dramatically as when the horse and buggy gave way to the car."

Coalition Against Nuclear Energy

We invite you to endorse our official launch of the national umbrella Coalition Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), on April 12, in a statement below that will be sent to newspapers across the country.

Representative coalition members from around the country will meet in Bloemfontein on that day to set CANE up as a democratic lobby group for those who wish to advocate for energy solutions that do not include nuclear power. This is an opportunity to support an end to the nuclear programme and send a clear message that South Africans want to exercise their democratic right to have a say in energy decisions that will affect generations to come.

Please could you return a signed letter of endorsement as soon as possible should you wish to participate. Your support is appreciated.

For more details or to join CANE, click www.cane.org.za

If you are an anti-nuclear stakeholder or are concerned in any way about South Africa's push for nuclear energy and wish to attend the launch of CANE on the 12th of April in Bloemfontein, please contact caneoffice@cane.org.za for more information.

Sincerely

CANE Interim Committee:

Dominique Gilbert 012-205 1125 / 083 7404 676
Daniel Reinecke 0844 0844 08
Christine & Rob Garbett 082 568 8844 / 082 565 7686
Mike Kantey 072 628 5131

Hat-tip to Rory Short.

Monsanto's Harvest of Fear: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com

Monsanto's Harvest of Fear: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com: "Monsanto goes after farmers, farmers’ co-ops, seed dealers—anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the “seed police” and use words such as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” to describe their tactics."