The Silent Famine
May 18 2008 22:21
I haven't notice any mention here of the recent punishing increases in food price and how they have affected the poor of Asia and Africa. There's a little background
here:. Doe anyone know of a more in depth analysis of the situation.
I myself would add that this is certainly a product of the current crisis of capital. Efforts to prevent financial collapse and overheated, unbalanced development in Asia have been led to a massive inflation in commodity prices. Food is a commodity and depends on petrochemicals as an important input.
Biofuel competition with food crops are one more villain in this story but I suspect its effects are overblown given that commentators don't understand or like to mention systemic factors.
Ecological factors also come into the picture. Aufheben's recent article on China mentions the way current development has impact Chinese agriculture.
Red
May 18 2008 23:06
#2
May 22 2008 02:51
#3
hi, there are numerous articles on this and subtopics at
http://del.icio.us/diasporas/food-security
and
http://del.icio.us/dr.woooo/food
May 22 2008 15:36
#4
Also a problem in Mexico. The price of tortillas has skyrocketed in the last 18 months, and then again sharply in the last week, leading a government organisation (with all its understatement and continual denials of poverty) to worry that "5 million" Mexicans are malnourished and in risk of starvation.
May 27 2008 19:53
#5
a series starting in the guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/27/food.egypt
May 28 2008 04:26
#6
"Globalized hunger, hunger riots and imperialist order problems"
(GegenStandpunkt Marburg radio broadcast, April 2, 2008)
The return of hunger – this time explicitly as a product and problem of the world economy:
http://www.ruthlesscriticism.com/globalhunger.htm
May 28 2008 06:13
#7
Monthly Review had an okay article about this:
Jun 5 2008 05:23
#8
there is an excellent article at inthemiddleofawhirlwind.info
particularly
foodcrisis/energycrisis/workcrisis
A couple of recent articles on our website take up these questions. Agree that we are seeing a growing link between economic crisis and ecological breakdown.
This one is written by comrades in the Philippines - on the front line as it were.
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2008/may/food_crisis_philippines
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2008/05/food_riots