Posted on April 22, 2008 by thestateofblog
The UN also announced it would hand out more than 7,000 tonnes of food, in the first place for children and mothers. Riots this month over rising food and fuel prices have led to the deaths of at least six people, including a UN peacekeeper. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Most Haitians earn no more than $2 a day, and they have struggled to feed themselves as the prices of rice, beans and fruit have risen by 50% in the last year.
And in other parts of the world:
In Cameroon, 24 people have been killed in food riots since February, while in Haiti, protesters chanting, “We’re hungry” forced the prime minister to resign this month.
In the past month, there have been food riots in Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Madagascar.
The State Of . . . the World. How long will it last? There are more than a few factors at play. Some blame the US for subsidizing the growth of corn for use in ethanol. Some blame climate change. At any rate, food prices are soaring all over the world. For us it just means we may head to the Aldi instead of Whole Foods. But in some developing nations it leads to a crisis.
Filed under: Life
Middle class Americans are feeling a little pinch, but poor Americans are really feelin’ the price increases.
Welfare rolls are ballooning.
I remember about 1.5 years ago, a guy on Democracy Now predicted massive starvation in the Third World as a result of these factors. It looks like we are well on our way, and I don’t see anything stopping it.
I wonder if Obama, Clinton or Mcain will come out against Ethanol?
This may be a stupid question but does anyone know of a reliable way of getting help to these people? I know their government tends to screw them and I was wondering if there is a way that we could help and actually get food directly into the people’s hands.
Hello Bloggers,
Recently, we posted a video on Haiti that I thought you might be interested in.
The video features the work that Meds and Food for children does. They offer a small solution to the famine in Haiti.
Here it is:
http://current.com/items/88911955_life_saving_peanuts
Pink,
The western world tends to screw Haiti.
Punishment for being the only country of Africans to revolt against a European power.
The US could have airlifted food their three weeks ago. Where is the CBC?