The authors of World Hunger: Twelve Myths don’t pretend this isn’t an issue. In fact, the chapter opens with a statement saying something akin to “Okay, okay. The worsening environment will definitely stand in the way of food production, and producers aren’t exactly eco-saints, but…”
They proceed to claim that food production’s assault on the planet’s valuable ecosystems isn’t as terrible as you may think. What’s more, the act of blaming food production is a waste of energy as the true criminals aren’t farmers at all.. they’re businessmen.
Stated plainly, the myth under fire is this: Incresing pressure to feed the world’s hungry is destroying the dwindling resources needed to grow any food at all. And, stated plainly, the book’s response is: Indeed. But why?
Look at the facts. There are enough resources to sustain humanity until its population reaches 11 billion people. This is an interesting point, but it feels pretty backwards when you consider the staggering numbers of hungry on the planet. How can we boast such potential when we aren’t even getting food to the 6.8 billion we already have? And why don’t these malnourished masses have food, if so many of them are classified as farmers? There is a common thread, just in case you were wondering.
Dislocation.
The spiral downward looks something like this:
- Curious folk land on foreign soil. The native population is easily overpowered by technology and untreatable disease. The conquered land is bountiful.
- The aliens then grow a few select crops, which they sell to already developed nations for billions of pretty pennies.
- After accumulating a great wealth, the once-aliens now build townships, cities, and spend all day worrying about things like witches, liquor, and creationism in public schools.
- Having extra money to throw around, the newly settled and slightly obese citizens of a now glorious nation decide to build over their hard-earned agricultural property, and become food importers instead. To bar any major job losses by this abrupt change, they develop things like automobiles and collection agencies.
- Imported foods are graded by impossible cosmetic standards that no under-developed agricultural nation can realistically achieve.
- The ever growing obese civilization creates a line of expensive pesticides to assist in combating this problem, and attaches a price tag so impractical that foreign farmers must throw in the trowel and become starving poor instead. Also, they create a few organizations that fight global poverty by distributing pamphlets.
- The fatties send over some friends to buy up all of the choicest pieces of land from the suffering, starving and disease ridden poor. This pushes the destitute into areas of land that cannot sustain any form of agriculture for any length of time. Populations of indigent locals grow exponentially in these areas. The already nutrient poor land becomes desert where nothing can grow.
- Back on the arable soil, a few miles away from the slums, corn, soy and cane are grown in massive quantities, feeding the ever hungry wealthy all of the foods they need most. To ensure a steady production, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used. The locals cannot afford protection from these toxins and must stay home sick from school or die of cancer… or both.
- More pamphlets are distributed to raise awareness of the rapid decline of some of the world’s most beautiful and unique societies.
So, maybe land isn’t being plowed over to feed the hungry. Maybe ecosystems are being felled by axe and pollutants to feed… us. You can blame farmer José for cutting into a rainforest, but why was he forced into wilderness in the first place? Or poor farmer Jomo? He may have turned his plot into a square of inhospitable sand, but what choice did he have? Can he afford hearts of romaine or whole wheat English muffins?
Truth be told, these banana plantations and corn cities are funded by people with money. We happily pay for the unfair acquisition of fertile lands from the poor and the deadly chemical additives that keep them sick and susceptible to disease. Our demands might not be such a problem if we were willing to pay twice as much for our food.. a mark-up necessary to properly equip impoverished field workers and provide food, land, and health insurance to José and Jomo. And why is that so unreasonable? These are benefits we give American workers, after all.
And a little note on all of those carcinogenic sprays we like to dust our foreign fields with. Are they legal in the states? Many of them are not. Are they absolutely necessary? Not according to David Pimentel, Jason Friedman, and David Kahn. In their work “Reducing Insecticide, Fungicide and Herbicide Use on Vegetables and Reducing Herbicide Use on Fruit Crops,” in Techniques for Reducing Pesticide Use (Pemintel) they offer evidence that farmers could cut pesticide use by as much as 35 to 50 percent with no effect on crop yields.
Around this time of year, you are supposed to be reflecting on the blessings you have received in one form or another. That being said, I hope you are prepared to ponder, if not answer, the following question:
Dear Readers,
Have you ever considered the true cost of your diet?
Sincerely,
L’Avant Gardener
