Why are 800 MILLION People starving when the world produces enough food for everyone?

Over population is one reason and a growing one but it is far outweighed by the gap between rich and poor.

Whilest that gap exists the rich will:-

1) eat more than is good for them

2) eat more meat (the production of which is far less efficient than vegetables)

3) over-fish the seas so that they produce less fish

4) use land for biofuels (to feed cars instead of people)

5) waste food (huge quantities get thrown away or trimmed off for cosmetic reasons or for sell by dates)

6) destroy local food production in poor countries by buying up land for plantations to produce luxury foods for the rich or by dumping food surpluses in clumsy ways (food aid can do long term damage if not done properly).

The world is drifting into a catastrophic situation in which greedy consumption in rich countries plus growing consumption in the developing countries is leading to shortages of fossil fuels, water and food. This could lead to mass migrations and wars on a massive scale. Over consumption is also leading to global warming which will further disrupt food production and add housing pressures to the list of troubles (because of the flooding of many heavily populated areas).

The solution to these problems is to recognise that the world belongs to us all and that we can not afford greed. Developed nations must give up striving for economic growth (greed) and must use their resources to help develop the economies of poor countries in sustainable ways. And the key feature of sustainability must be the production of food for local consumption.

The production of food for local consumption is the revolutionary feature of my proposals (previous development has been directed towards food and other goods for export) but food for local consumption is far more efficient in terms of energy and water.

But even more revolutionary than that is the proposal that the developed world should sacrifice further growth to help solve the problems of poor countries. Taxes must be spent abroad, skills must be transferred abroad and greed (growth) must be curbed because the world turmoil that will result from continued greed will bring us all down.

The good news is that it is not quite too late to start and that the simpler lifestyles needed are in many ways more enjoyable than trying to keep up with the neighbours.

How do we start? By supporting politicians who favour aid rather than war and sustainability rather than economic growth. Get involved in the political processes and show the way by adopting a simpler lifestyle yourself. Foreign holidays, foreign foods and cars are all unnecessary and part of being greedy. Walking, cycling and local foods are all examples of ways to have fun sustainably.

By the way, I am pleased to see so many people engaging with this question. When more of us do so we will be well on the way to solving the problem.

Best wishes for a sustainable future.

They are starving because our wise leaders have other priorities or objectives.

There is no food crisis

The world produces more than enough food

It is what happens to it that causes the crisis.

More than Half is diverted for the production of Ethanol.

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1223/...

And this is the main reason for social unrest and the rising food prices,This is only the beginning

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/159936/1/7263

This is a political issue and the reasons are profits.

so the profits will win the day.

Not the poor Poor.

Famines are allowed to happen ,as part of a depopulation strategy.

my answer the 13th one down check the links

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkR.4...

The problems originate from the Top down so there is no solution

the production of ethanol produces more carbon emissions than all of the motor cars and industry in the world

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Auyum...

And still it continues and grows.

Global solutions are NOT the agenda Global control IS

we should be looking at Starwars modes of transport Floating anti gravity bikes sound great to me.

and kill the internal combustion engine ,

But those who lead us also own this industry (both the petrol and the cars)and as yet there is plenty of money to made with these engines

there are other ways to make fuel

keep deep eating deep fries and use the old oil

or check some of the electric cars in HUDDLER

http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/item/15

All in all a dangerous question that draws us towards the unspeakable zone ,Like what does the UN really do

But it has flushed out some dandies

Because it is in the interests of the corporations to keep a goodly part of the world at or below subsistence level. In this way they can rape and pillage the natural resources of nations in Africa, Asia, The Middle East and South America . Gas, Oil, Diamonds,Gold, iron ore and coal are theirs for the taking. All they need to do is cut corrupt governments in on the profits and they can drag the wealth from the soil of these nations, paying a pittance for the materials and getting local labour for the price of a bowl of gruel a day....and a sound beating if targets aren't met. Should all the people of the world have enough to eat and access to clean water, these workers might start demanding a living wage and decent safety standards. Housing that is more than a series of lean to buildings overlooking an open sewer and a doctor within a 200km walk. And that my dear, would undercut the profits of BHP Biliton, Mobil, Rio Tinto and Exon....and they wouldn't be able to bear that.Poor mites would have to keep flying the same lear jets year after year. They are only trying to prevent suffering...their own suffering, that is.

Because billions in China and India can afford 2 or 3 meals a day and will pay a higher price than those in abject poverty can afford to pay for one.

This was predicted before 1900 as inevitable. Our planet supported 0.24 billion to 0.28 billion humans for roughly 5,000 of history. Then:

In 1650 - - there were 0.50 billion

In 1836 - - there were 1.0 billion

In 1932 - - there were 2.0 billion

1964 - - 3.0 billion

1975 - - 4.0 billion

198? - - 5.0 billion

1998 - - 6.0 billion

This is entirely our own doing as technology and science allowed it to happen.

Today, there are nearly 7.0 billion people. More than (7.0/.028 = 25) TWENTY-FIVE TIMES the number of people nature EVER allowed.

The first and best hope for survival is EDUCATION for EVERY kid to become as productive an engineer or doctor, etc (not a laborer and not illiterate!!) as the best on earth today; and, of COURSE to permit the natural attrition do its work.

Modern nations have the lowest birthrates...fewer mouths to feed = same food goes farther.

We have, I think, a responsibility to encourage the most charitable among us to be INTELLIGENT in their charity: birth control FIRST.

That will allow people to live longer healthier lives. Because, with fewer children per couple, existing food will be ENOUGH for the smaller numbers of people.

If, in 200 years or so we return to 0.25 billion people, nobody will have to eat algae.

...

By the way, switchgrass is a better ethanol feedstock than corn, wheat, rice, etc, AND will not make those grains more expensive because it grows where grain doesn't.

Education

Attrition

Smart Green-Fuel

Better health

Free markets

An educated populace

Democracy.

...

The average American farmer in 1999 yielded enough to feed 128 people. I haven't seen any newer statistics lately, but what occured when we educated poor countries about agricultural production so they could produce grain to grow on their own was, that they wound up eating the aid that was sent to them before planting it. It is understandable that hungry people are concerned with sustaining themselves, but also it is not economically feasible for wealthier countries continue sending free food. If we continue to send free food to poor countries one thing that happens is it drives down the prices of the poorer countries own comodities. It's not that these countries aren't producing, they just either are not producing enough or their governments are too corrupt and control the distribution of food. Many times government aid is siezed by these people before it gets to the people who need it. Lastly many of these people live in underdeveloped areas where transporting goods is the limiting factor.

I watched Nightly News from NBC. They were saying that farmers do produce enough food for people who are starving daily. However, getting food to third nation is very difficult for several reasons.

1. Farming is business, farmers do want to make more profit by waiting as long as they can until the price is at its peak.

2. Livestocks such as cow, pig, and chicken consume more corns than what we consume. The demand of meat increases each year, and China is raising more livestocks meaning more corns are sold to agricultural industries than people who are starving in Africa.

3. Bio fuels- The U.S. is buying of alot of corns to make this new oil.

4. Number 2 and 3 led farmers to plant corns instead of mills or rice or any other crops to make more profits as the price of corn is going up. So third country has even less chance of buying crops off from farmers since they are very poor.

We do have technology to produce enough food, just that distribution of that is very unbalanced against third country.

The World market is very cruel, but that's how money works....

biofuels and meat eating, but mainly inequality. gap between rich and poor widens daily, and the rules are made by the rich.

Posted by envirostats on Thursday, December 20, 2007

2007 grain harvest was 2.3 billion tons or 350 kg per person (before use for reasons other than food), but cereal stocks are at 30 year lows due to not keeping up with population growth, livestock feed demands (27%) and biofuel demands (17%) that all helped US hard wheat prices increase 65%

* Industrial livestock production requires large amounts of grain, particularly corn. Grain, in conjunction with soybeans, provides the primary source of livestock feed: in total, roughly one third (35 percent) of the world’s grain becomes feed.

* Ethanol and other fuels now consume 17 percent of the world’s grain harvest. Worldwide, the amount of course grains (a group that includes corn, barley, sorghum, and other grains fed mainly to animals) converted to energy jumped 15 percent in 2007 to 255 million tons, although this is small compared with the 627 million tons devoted to livestock feed. The 255 million tons is course grains only, not all grains.

* In recent decades, annual growth in grain production has at best matched each year’s population growth.

# At 784 million tons, the record 2007 corn harvest was buoyed by growing use of the grain to produce biofuels, which prompted farmers in the United States, Brazil, and Argentina to plant more land for corn. The U.S. alone is responsible for over 40 percent of the global corn harvest and half of world exports.

# The global rice harvest was up slightly to 633 million tons, while wheat also increased modestly (by 2 percent) to 605 million tons.

http://envirostats.info/2007/12/20/0636/

Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger. And if you care, eat less meat

George Monbiot The Guardian, Tuesday April 15 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/1...

800 million, eh? ... and they are starving? ... so I can only assume that 800 million people will die of starvation in the next, oh, 30 days? That would be the only result if your statement were true.

Perhaps the numbers reflect a projection and approximation of the number of people who failed to consume the minimum RDA of calories. ... And perhaps they have forgotten that approximately a third of those require far less of the RDA needed by a working, active adult. ... hmmmm ... And perhaps the UN, which has had 50 years of control over such global projects, has failed miserably in actually stopping starvation. ... hmmmmm ... Sounds an awful lot like the "War on Poverty" that never seems to end here in the US.

Perhaps the problem is with the governments of the starving people. Could that be? Perhaps they need to free their people to be more efficient and entrepreneurial. Perhaps they need to stop trying to control the means of production and the means of transportation and distribution. ... hmmm ... maybe they need to allow their people to leave areas that cannot support humans.... hmmmm ... and stop nationalizing working, productive farms and producers. ... hmmmm ...

... and then there is infrastructure...

The food has to be transported. Roads and railroads, waterways and paths; all need to be maintained and made safe. Perhaps if governments limit their activities to supporting and protecting the infrastructure then their citizens could do what they are supposed to do. Perhaps if governments worry less about Swiss bank accounts and UN-paid offices in New York and Paris ... Perhaps if governments allowed their people free and fair trade across borders... perhaps if governments controlled their own agents to prevent food from being stolen, lost or allowed to rot in warehouses.

But ... again, I have to point out ... if, in fact, 800 million people are starving every single day then after a few days we should be seeing 800 million people dying each day. Do the math. Read your facts with more thought and less gut.

... oh ... While I'm at it .... Gore faked the polar bear story, too. ... just thought you should know.

Hmmm. well Im guessing that you live in either The us, canada, Western Europe, New Zealand or where i hail form Australia!!!! The reason is if you live in these countries you are a first world western citizen you may care but there are millions of others ( like my self.....hey im being honest.) That don't care if we can make food why can't they when they already get the help and education to do it!!!. Personally i would rather eat heaps than give it to them thats just the way it is..

Most of the world organized associations that handle the food keep it in warehouses rather than distribute it.. I n certain parts of the world it's called population control.. It a sad fact that yes there are governments out there that actually do intentionally store and starve other to death... But there are many organization that are trying to teach people in diff rent countries world wide how to feed and build communities of there own... How to grow food and live off the land......