Food: The New Gold

Food: The New Gold — page 1 — CHAPTER 1 GOING HUNGRY

Food: The New Gold — page 2 — THE digGNITARIES SAT AROUND A BANQUET table while waiters served a sumptuous dinner consisting of nineteen different dishes The dinner had a theme Blessings of the Earth and Sea The diners were the leaders of the eight richest nations in the world Canada France Germany Italy Japan Russia the United Kingdom and the United States the Group of Eight or G8 They were gathered in Japan to discuss the global food crisis According to reporters the three day summit cost $486 million Before the banquet the leaders expressed deep concern about worldwide food shortages and rising food prices They admonished citizens of their nations not to waste food Then they took part in what the British newspaper the Daily Mail called a gastronomic food extravaganza The summit guests ate delicacies such as caviar milkfed lamb sea urchin and una with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the US The newspaper printed the complete menu Critics were quick to disapprove They thought it hypocritical to produce such a lavish meal when world food supplies are under threat In contrast to the diners at the G8 summit one billion people around the world are undernourished Many millions more are starving many of them babies They lack the minimum amount of food for health and growth Yet farmers and ranchers produce more than enough food every year to feed everyone on Earth But much of that food does not get to the people who need it most In some places food has become a precious item almost like gold Why do people in some parts of the world have to beg for food and sometimes even scrounge for food in garbage dumps while people in other parts of the globe have more than enough food They can buy almost every kind of food imaginable on grocery store shelves Why isn't food affordable for everyone Why GOING HUNGRY

Food: The New Gold — page 3 — isn't it distributed to everyone equally How can we make sure that humans have enough safe healthy food for generations to come How do politics climate and science shape food supplies This book explores those questions and more DESPERATE FOR FOOD In the Caribbean nation ofHaiti poor women cannotafford the high price of rice and other basic foods Instead they buy dirt mix in vegetable shor tening salt and water and make cookies with it In the Central American nations of El Salvador Guatemala Honduras and Nicaragua the cost of corn beans and rice has doubled in one year People can afford only half what they could buy the year before Eating less is their only option

Food: The New Gold — page 4

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