Unnatural roots of the food crisis

[nosmokes]

original-bbcnews

Four plant species - wheat, maize, rice and potato - provide over half of the plant-based calories in the human diet



Unnatural roots of the food crisis


VIEWPOINT

Gonzalo Oviedo

As representatives of the world's governments gather to address shortages in major foodstuffs and rising prices, Gonzalo Oviedo counsels them to focus on ecosystems. The modern business-dominated agricultural industry, he argues, promotes the degradation of nature - and that, in turn, means less and worse food.


Feeding the world requires healthy ecosystems and equitable governance.

The current model of market-driven food production is leaving people hungry.

It has turned food into a commodity subject to all the market failures that create inequities and negative impacts on the environment.

We have a global food crisis.

A myriad of events are convening the international community to reflect on the urgent situation.

Just in the past month, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity focused considerable attention on agriculture and food security.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon created a special task force to respond to the crisis and soaring food prices.

And this week, in Rome, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is hosting a high-level summit on world food security, climate change and bioenergy.

But this crisis has been long coming. Unsustainable agricultural policies and technologies, inequitable trade rules, agricultural subsidies that distort the markets, and the systematic marginalisation of small producers lie at the heart of the problem.

In addition, there is chronic under-investment in agriculture in developing countries, and a real neglect of the basic premise that ecosystems have to be in good shape in order to provide good food.

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complete article here

[LWolf]

1. Kick for an important topic that's not getting any love.

From a gardener whose been avoiding hybrids and sticking to open-pollinated varieties for decades.

Not that I'm growing much since I moved; I've only put in a few fruit trees.

Still.

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. K&R

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Thank you for posting. k+r n/t

[lynettebro440]

4. K&R

[Karenina]

5. k&r!

[Gregorian]

6. We have a global population crisis.

And unless we address that it will only make everything worse.

We either acknowledge the truth, or suffer further consequences. No we can't change the population. We now have to deal with the mess that has been made. But unless we do the one thing nobody on the planet, except a few, want to do, it's going to be far worse than it is right now. Especially with less petroleum going around.

Why is this so difficult for people to see.