We're Starving...

845 million people around the world are starving and what makes matters worse is that this isn’t a famine. There’s food to go around but people can no longer afford them. Staples like rice, wheat and corn have seen their prices more than double in the last two months and the end is no where in sight. The U.S. is harvesting more corn than ever but 30% of that yield is now going towards bio-fuel production. Fourteen countries such as Haiti, Uganda, and Egypt are starving. Pres. Bush has ordered $200 million to the WFP and Gordon Brown has committed $60 million but the WFP needs $4.3 billion/year to run effectively. 16,000 children are dying everyday. That’s one child dying every five seconds. Bolivian President Evo Morales feels that a human life is more important than a car and I can’t help but agree. It seems like an obvious statement but if you look deeply how governments are reacting to these ever-spiking food prices than maybe its not. Under capitalism, Morales said, “cars come first, not human beings … I say life first and cars second.” President Evo Morales stated that this environmental crisis was “not the product of human beings in general, but rather the current inhumane capitalist system, with unlimited industrial development”. Do you think that’s true? And don’t think its not happening in your country. The U.S., for instance, has 35.5 million people on the verge of hunger. That’s more than 10% of the population. Biofuels cannot feed the world. We need to change. Contribute to the WFP. Write your Congressman for a better Farm Bill. Take public transportation to work. Car-pool. Every little bit helps.