Now, more in line with the recent tone of sanet, let's not just blindly
echo the sentiments below:
Most governments still
>think of hunger as a production shortfall problem, and therefore their
>final recommendations are mostly old-fashioned ideas about how to
>boost production.
>In contrast, the NGOs stated [the world should] base food trade on the
principles of food security, not neo-liberal trade theory.
Hunger, like slavery, is a human
>rights violation and must be abolished by whatever means necessary.
Government solutions, in contrast to the implied solution of the quoted
missive, have a renowed capacity for unintended consequences.
Working on a famine mitigation project for USAID for several years, it
became apparent that only self-sufficiency of local communities can
reduce the threat of hunger. This self-sufficiency based on seed
multiplication, grain storage and local control of resources of
production is the only answer to world hunger.
Do you really believe that there are specific and effective government
solutions, beyond a strong research/education commitment to seed/grain
storage and local food production?
Certainly, M. Ritchie's criticism of the agro-industrial tecno-fix is
warranted, but what specific initiatives do you have to offer?
Jim Worstell
Delta Land and Community, Inc.