Food Crisis

As many of you will probably already know at this point, there is a global food crisis currently taking place. While you may not have yet felt its effects, make no mistake, it is a major problem with global consequences. All over the world riots are taking place as people are starving to death. Basic necessities such as, rice, flour, corn, maze, have doubled or tripled in price over the last year. For people living on less than $2, or in many cases less than $1, a day it means more than just a few extra cents a week. It means pulling your child out of school so the rest of the family can eat for another week, it means another child may have to work, it means that what little possessions a family has will be sold to get the extra money. It means that eventually they will be unable to afford the basics to life.

We, here in the developed world, take for granted the fact that we can purchase a bag of flour or rice without much consequence. It is readily available on the shelves, in comparison to a box of Captain Crunch it costs very little, and even as the price rises we hardly notice when the grocery bill exceeds $100 a week for the family. However, the rest of the world does notice. If you can manage it, I encourage you to visit the World Food Programs website and make a donation to the Fill the Cup campaign. $15 will feed 10 children for a week. If you want to learn more about the food crises I have added a number of links that a classmate of mine gathered. There is also a series of pictures below that illustrate some of the glaring differences between the haves and have-nots.

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07



United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week $341.98



Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53



Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03



Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23




Some more reading if you want to learn more:
1. How to stop the global food crisis - BBC
2. The New Economics of Hunger - Washington Post
3.Rising Food Prices to top UN Agenda - Reuters
4. Rising Food Prices - Chatham House Report
5. UN Scientific report on fixing the world food system
6. Credit Crunch? The real crisis is global hunger - The Guardian