How to End to Global Hunger

By Gary Morton, 2008

      I’m writing this on a Sunday, so let me begin on a faithful note. Around the world people of many religions pray. Humanists and atheists also have their hopes and perhaps their own form of intellectual prayer or meditation. Since the majority of us on this planet are poor, most of the requests are for food and clean water.

      Today billions stare in the face of starvation even though there is enough food produced to feed everyone on the planet. Imagine the catastrophe occurring when there is truly not enough food for us all.

* Click here for a map of the World's Hungriest

      As the situation worsens we see billions paying from half to all of their income to purchase food. Water is scarce in many parts of the world and there have been outright riots and unrest in many countries. These include Haiti, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, El Salvador and Afghanistan. Many people and animals have no food and water. They are dying due to neglect.

       Prices of everything from rice to wheat, corn and oils have risen to unaffordable levels. The causes of these price rises are mostly simple and immoral. They also show a lack of commitment to the Millennium Development Goals that world leaders agreed on in 2006. Then it was stated that world hunger would be cut in half by 2015. Even with the food crisis underway in 2008, the richest nations, the G8 are promoting the same policies that caused the crisis. They want aid to poor nations administered by the free trade strings-attached International Monetary fund. Poor countries won't be able use tariffs to protect farmers from unfair competition from subsidized agribusiness, and they want more patent rules allowing corporations to take ownership of seeds

      The largest problem is Free Trade, especially the modern variety that pushes large scale GMO farming onto developing nations. The entire trade argument is wrong at its ethical roots. We need to jettison the concept of Free trade and replace it with the concept of Humanitarian Trade. Feed-the-People Trade or Food-for-All policies are needed to provide the poor with food and clean water. We also need to reorganize the IMF and World Bank into organizations that work to end world hunger rather than create it. These failed instruments of disastrous neo liberal free trade policies need to be reborn.

      We can’t begin on the road to a solution unless we begin at the philosophical level and no longer argue over free trade versus protectionism. We have to make the dispute one of humanitarian solutions and go with whatever mix of resolutions work.

      Hard realities are to be faced as there isn’t a world wide movement towards a complete socialist or capitalist solution. An approach has to be found that gets all parties to work together. It is already evident that the richest and most capitalistic nations see food riots in distant lands as a threat to their security. This news can be used as a prod to ensure they cooperate and act with efforts to eliminate world hunger.

      Here are some ideas to a future where we’ve all had a drink and dinner.

      Lack of wealth redistribution … it is the number one reason for current world poverty. Hunger and poverty are directly related. The gap between the rich and the poor is a mass murderer. We have to realize this and change it. The super rich gain no benefit from being ever richer; it all becomes more money in the bank as the ranks of the poor grow by the millions. We have to redistribute wealth to save lives, and politicians and legislators have to see the morality of human life rather than the bribes of those that want to enrich themselves further for no benefit.

     The redistribution of wealth is also wealth creation as the prosperity of the last century arrived through more people earning a living wage or better. They spent their money and it drove the economy. The idea that super wealth in the hands of a few creates prosperity has always been a myth. We need a world wide Safety Net or a safety net in every nation. During recent decades of strong growth only 60 cents of every one hundred dollars of increased wealth went to poverty reduction. There has been criminal neglect of the poor. Prosperous nations must upgrade rather than destroy health care, unemployment, disability and all other important wealth redistribution programs. These programs must be transplanted to all other nations as an important part of world development. Foreign aid has to be focused on the world's poor. A bill just passed in Canada does that and all nations need mechanisms to insure that their aid is not being used to prop up dictators or advance wasteful or military projects.

     The remaining wealthy national governments like Canada have to donate a lot more in agricultural, food, water and sanitation relief. In the 1980s 12 per cent of development aid was devoted to agriculture. In 2008 it's only 2.9 per cent. Currently the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is calling for a new global food fund. There is no immediate cure for world structural problems in finance. As the US Federal Reserve continues to lower rates and send the dollar on a downward spiral, food costs rise and rise more as big investors funnel money into energy and food basics that will retain their value. We first have to lobby our governments to donate much more, and to get to work with ideas to fix the structural problems that have caused a famine when there is plenty of food. Regulation is needed in all areas. It is a fact that deregulation, that first came on strong during the Reagan years, has led to wealth concentration at the top. Many nations suffer from government that is not accountable and under the sway of an agribusiness lobby that spends huge sums to gain legislation and trade agreements that enrich corporations and starve human beings.

     Sanctions: The US and allies killed hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, through economic sanctions that occurred before the Iraq war. There are now economic sanctions on Iran, and Israel has caused starvation by blockading Gaza. The use of techniques of mass starvation as a political tool must end and the UN and national governments must condemn such tactics.

         New Taxes: Let’s start with taxing bio fuels and stopping the promotion of biofuels from food crops. Bio fuels do not halt global warming and studies have shown that. Producing them increases emissions and what bio fuels do is turn grain into fuel instead of food. One third of the US corn crop is now feeding cars instead of people. The Ontario government is investing in research for biofuels that can be made from waste such as corn husks and manure. If developed these biofuels would be a better option as they don't devour food and help eliminate waste.

     We also have to start realizing that driving is a luxury and not a right. Autos and trucks have been guzzling cheap fuel for too long. The time for personal sacrifice is here. China plans to put 300 million vehicles on its roads by 2030. Obviously the world can't sustain this and the point has been reached where every person driving is killing others for the sake of personal luxury. 75 to 90 percent of personal emissions come from auto use. It's time to end auto addiction. The auto industry has to be hit hard and forced to produce small fuel efficient, low emissions vehicles, especially electric vehicles, which they have worked so hard to prevent.

       A world wide (hunger or humanitarian) tax on oil and oil based products could be funneled directly into efforts to end world hunger. We could steeply tax coal and all harmful energy sources. There could be small sister taxes on consumer goods in the wealthy nations, and on luxury and sin items like tobacco. Again the money could be sent directly into food aid or agricultural support for small third world farmers. Currently the Venezuelan government wants Latin American energy-rich countries to create an oil-for-food fund for regional development. This fund would be of enormous help to food-poor nations in the region.

      We need regulated financial support to guarantee liquidity in vital food and water/sanitation industries. This means that low interest money will be there for companies and nations investing to provide world food and water. Government and UN monies must also be there to aid in providing world wide sanitation without profit.

      Create legislation to end dumping and plowing under and create a guaranteed international market for all grain and food production. A Grow if You Can Grow morality, and if prices are low, allow a subsidy that will cover the farmer’s needs and ensure that the food is shipped to those most in need. End Free Trade laws that stop nations from stockpiling food. Strategic grain reserves will allow nations a buffer to weather famine and price shocks.

     Free Trade practices that were supposed improve our lot have created artificial famines. One good example is Mexico where trade policies instituted by the IMF and World bank created poverty, high prices and shortages. Small Mexican farmers were put out of business and subsidized US corn flowed in. Free Trade laws shut down the Mexican marketing agency and large companies like Cargil monopolized corn and grain movement. Mexican farmers then flooded into the US as illegal immigrants.

      Similar policies by the WTO/IMF caused the rice crisis in nations like the Philippines. The combined impact of forced debt repayment and trade liberalization damaged the agricultural sector. Ironically these policies were supposed to bring prosperity and employment. World wide, free trade policies have killed off small farming and national food self-sufficiency, turning nations into food importers. That food is under the control of agribusiness giants. In India the problem is so severe 150,000 farmers have committed suicide. It appears that free trade has been effective in killing off local peasants and farmers, while leaving whole populations reliant on imported grains, GMOs and meat parts. Much of this comes from subsidized farming in the USA and EU.

   In short the world has become dependant on globalized capitalist agribusiness and large scale GMO farming. This is a very bad situation, because the increasingly greedy giants pillage for profits, produce a huge carbon footprint, and create genetically modified plants that are a danger to health and the balance of nature. If this situation is not changed and the giants fail in production, or create a GMO catastrophe, world wide starvation will arrive.

     Alternate foods are another idea. Some nations may have to make dietary changes. Foods that are abundant can be delivered to the world's poorest. An example would be that those without rice could receive Canadian potatoes or some other staple. In some cases rice could be substituted for wheat. Flexibility in forms of food aid would make a difference.

      Clean water should not only be a human right, water should be kept in the public domain to keep corporations from killing people with thirst and slowing food production with steep water delivery fees. Corporations profiting from spreading thirst and hunger stand with war mongers as the evilest people on earth. Eco damage and development also leads to water shortages, meaning a world wide green plan to protect eco systems, ensure sustainable development and repair environmental damage is needed. Threatened rainforests and other vital eco systems must be protected. Currently one in five people lacks clean water.

      We must continue the battle against climate change and initiate new global planning to deal with food production in the face of climate change that is already here and doing damage. Dumped or waste food is an eco threat. In the US 40 to 50 percent of food grown for harvest never gets eaten. Decaying and dumped food ends up as methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.

       There should be local solutions, meaning an end to waste as there is enormous food waste in the wealthy nations. In the UK a study showed that 30 to 40 percent of food ends up as waste. Another study showed 38 billion dollars worth of food gets tossed yearly. This sum is greater than the economies of most nations. One quarter to a third of food is lost as waste in developing countries, usually in supply between the farmer and consumer. Storage, transportation and packaging systems must be improved to eliminate waste.

     We need more programs to aid local farmers to bring us food that is close to home and close to the heart. And also a plan so food banks will get surplus or unsold food from restaurants and food rich organizations to the poor instead of into garbage bins or buckets of swine slop. One in five Americans relies on some sort of food aid. Nine percent of Canadians rely on food bank assistance and the startling fact has been that Ontario, during its years as the richest province, had the most hungry people. There is no excuse for poverty in rich nations as wealth redistribution is simple. Benefits for the unemployed, disabled and lowest paid workers can be easily improved through redistribution plans to tax the rich and corporations. The fact that this hasn't been done on a large enough scale shows us that democratic politicians are basking in false glory instead of the truth of their failure.

     Health ... the cost to nations is enormous. Eliminating hunger, especially child hunger is a money saver and economy booster. Properly fed people don't create an incredibly costly health care burden. What they do create is a robust economy. The costs of letting the rich get ever richer at the expense of everyone else are world shaking. Wealthy people are the most in need of education. They need to understand that their short term greed and lobbying efforts to perpetuate such systems have driven the planet into poverty.

     Improved disaster relief is needed. The 2008 tragedy in Burma was compounded by the fact that aid workers and governments couldn’t get in to help. We need an aggressive UN effort to get all nations on the planet to sign a new disaster accord that guarantees aid agencies the access and cooperation they need to save lives in times of natural chaos and war. Global warming and a rise in natural disasters makes cooperation urgent.

     Let’s turn our swords into plows. Let’s stop the arms race and turn it into a positive venture. Offer large government subsidies for arms companies that will switch to producing farm equipment and farm aid for small farmers. Instead of instruments of human destruction we’d have instruments of public health. We have to return to a peace economy from a war economy and invest in a Green Rush. A return to small local farming and a sustainable environment is the way to do it.

     The promotion of vegan and vegetarian diets can free up large quantities of grain. This grain can be used to produce food for the world’s poor. Meat production sucks up too much grain. The EU imports animal feed and 70 percent of it comes from poor nations where people are starving. It can take up to 10 plant calories to deliver 1 meat calorie. Factory farming is another horror with animals kept in cramped and unsanitary conditions. Risks from this cruel method of farming include salmonella, BSE, bird flu and antibiotic resistance. Other known risks to humans are heart disease and cancer. Meat eating is no longer ethical. This brings us to education as anti hunger and planet/people saving knowledge has to be in the forefront world wide.

      World wide land rights legislation (enforced locally or at the UN level) is needed to prevent indigenous peoples and small farmers from losing their land to gobbling multinationals and governments. We also need worldwide soil protection laws to prevent the loss of valuable soil. Over fishing in all eco systems has to be prevented as it has and will bring about catastrophe. Free Trade laws have done much to discourage local food production in Africa. We have to reverse the trend and change these laws. Plus aid has to be more than shipping in food basics. There has to be education and empowerment of local people, and investment in local agricultural systems and sanitation.

       It is a fact that multi national corporations tied to the House of Windsor control most of the food supply. Let’s take a share of their profits with new distribution taxes. Huge companies like Cargill are profiting immensely from current problems. Controlling eighty percent of the world’s grain shipments means you have to pay for that privilege or divest yourself of it. Make it international law and guarantee a percentage of shipments to those in need of food. Tax all the big food monopolies and directly redistribute the wealth as food production aid to the world’s poor.

      How about new humane international regulations preventing speculators from enriching themselves through food and oil price manipulation. The US House of Representatives conducted hearings on energy market speculation. Hedge funds and investment banks have been playing a key role in driving up energy costs. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the US federal agency regulating oil trading. It has exempted financial firms from speculative buying rules and waived regulations on U.S. investors who trade commodities on overseas markets. Using cheap money from the Feds they drive prices up by purchasing large quantities of the future oil supply on foreign exchanges. The deregulation of commodities trading that began during the Reagan years has led to calamitous effects on the markets. Hedge, pension and index funds have placed hundreds of billions of dollars into agricultural commodities. Loopholes now allow large speculators to trade unlimited amounts of corn, wheat and other food futures. The entry of these non agricultural players into the market has caused prices to skyrocket.

      We need a UN ordered world wide ban on all sweat shop goods, where it can be demonstrated that the workers are not being paid a living wage. Many workers in the wealthy nations are not receiving a living wage; the movement for a Living Wage must become a world wide movement. Global slavery is another ugly problem. It is estimated that 27 million people are slaves. They live in places as far apart as Mexico and the Ivory Coast. The International Labor Organization says they produce yearly profits of around $31 billion.

      Let’s boost small organic farming as that is where the growth potential is in healthy food production. It is the better option. We must restore national food sovereignty, allowing nations to opt out of free trade regimes when food production is endangered. Otherwise we are relying on large scale international GMO farming or farming that needs large quantities of oil based fertilizers. More green and energy efficient replacement technologies must be put in place to offset oil use. Large scale agriculture and processed food production runs on oil. Oil is used at all stages: plowing, fertilizing, harvesting, pest reduction, shipping, refrigerating and cooking. Organic farming is less oil dependant. Biodiversity that comes with smaller farming needs to be restored. An example would be Indian farmers that used to grow a blend of crops on the same land. This method kept the soil healthy and pests at minimum, using very little pesticide compared to farms that grow one large crop.

       For an end, let’s make healthy reproducing seed freely available world wide. End the TRIPs madness that allows corporations to patent plant seeds. Let all nations work on expanding the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's plan to provide seeds to farmers in poor nations. Aid in providing fertilizer, energy and farm machinery is also needed as part of the plan both globally and locally. Food must be considered a human right along with clean water, sanitation, housing and all those items available in that hoped for grocery store of human kindness.

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