Our Awful Situation

Archive for the ‘Poverty’ Category

UN: Food Price Rises Threaten Global Security

Posted by Charlie Kilo on April 9th, 2008

When reading the following story keep this quote in mind from Catherine Bertini, former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program:

“Food is power! We use it to change behavior. Some may call that bribery. We do not apologize.”  

 From the Guardian:

Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN’s top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world.

Sir John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, told a conference in Dubai that escalating prices would trigger protests and riots in vulnerable nations. He said food scarcity and soaring fuel prices would compound the damaging effects of global warming. Prices have risen 40% on average globally since last summer.

“The security implications [of the food crisis] should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe,” Holmes said. “Current food price trends are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity.”

He added that the biggest challenge to humanitarian work is climate change, which has doubled the number of disasters from an average of 200 a year to 400 a year in the past two decades.

As well as this week’s violence in Egypt, the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for:

· Riots in Haiti last week that killed four people

· Violent protests in Ivory Coast

· Price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead

· Heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal

· Protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia

UN staff in Jordan also went on strike for a day this week to demand a pay rise in the face of a 50% hike in prices, while Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan have curbed rice exports to ensure supplies for their own residents.

Officials in the Philippines have warned that people hoarding rice could face economic sabotage charges. A moratorium is being considered on converting agricultural land for housing or golf courses, while fast-food outlets are being pressed to offer half-portions of rice.

Click here for more information on the Filipino rice crisis.

Hillary’s Poverty Czar

Posted by patriot on April 4th, 2008

Hillary Clinton has apparently said that she plans to create a new cabinet post if elected:

During her speech in Memphis later Friday, Hillary Clinton will announce the creation of a new cabinet position if she becomes president to deal with poverty.

The cabinet member will be called the ‘Poverty Czar.’

Is this an open recognition of the recession we’re heading into? What rubbish!

USA 2008: The Great Depression

Posted by Charlie Kilo on March 31st, 2008

The Independent, one of the UK’s largest papers, has declared that the United States is in a “depression”! They report:

Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

The increase – from 26.5 million in 2007 – is due partly to recent efforts to increase public awareness of the programme and also a switch from paper coupons to electronic debit cards. But above all it is the pressures being exerted on ordinary Americans by an economy that is suddenly beset by troubles. Housing foreclosures, accelerating jobs losses and fast-rising prices all add to the squeeze.

Emblematic of the downturn until now has been the parades of houses seized in foreclosure all across the country, and myriad families separated from their homes. But now the crisis is starting to hit the country in its gut. Getting food on the table is a challenge many Americans are finding harder to meet. As a barometer of the country’s economic health, food stamp usage may not be perfect, but can certainly tell a story.

The story also reports a 5% increase in unemployment in March. The plot thickens…

Update. Here’s additional coverage from the New York Times: As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record

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