[notxtra]

Around the globe, rising food prices have made basic staples like rice and corn unaffordable for many people, pushing the poor to the barricades because they can no longer get enough to eat. But the worst is yet to come.

Fort Dimanche, a former prison in the hills above the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, is a hell on earth. Today thousands of impoverished Haitians live in the prison's grounds, digging through piles of garbage for food. But even dogs find little to eat there.

On the roof of the former prison, enterprising women prepare something that looks like biscuits and is even called by that name. The key ingredient, yellow clay, is trucked in from the nearby mountains. The clay is combined with salt and vegetable fat to make dough, which is then dried in the sun.

For many Haitians, the mud biscuits are their only food. They taste of fat, suck the moisture out of the mouth and leave behind an aftertaste of dirt. They often cause diarrhea, but they help to numb the pangs of hunger. "I'm hoping one day I'll have enough food to eat, so I can stop eating these," Marie Noël, who survives with her seven children on the dirt cakes, told the Associated Press.

Food is become increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is already unaffordable for many people. The world's 200 wealthiest people have as much money as about 40 percent of the global population, and yet 850 million people have to go to bed hungry every night. This calamity is "one of the worst violations of human dignity," says former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Should we be surprised that despair often turns into violence? The food crisis afflicts the world's poor -- in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East -- like a biblical plague. Prices for staples like rice, corn and wheat, which were relatively stable for years, have skyrocketed by over 180 percent in the last three years. A bottleneck is developing whose consequences are potentially more severe than the global crisis in the financial markets. With nothing left to lose, people on the brink of starvation are more likely to react with boundless fury.

Developing countries faced a similar challenge more than a generation ago, which led to the advent of the so-called Green Revolution. Through the use of fertilizer, pesticides and hybrid seed, farmers in developing countries were able to boost their harvests considerably. Some now believe that it is time to launch a second green revolution. The heads of research at agricultural conglomerates are convinced that genetic engineering could be the answer to the world's food problems. But the question is: how long would it take?

China has close to a quarter of the world's population to feed, but only 7 percent of its farmland. A similar situation applies in India. This means that both countries must import food on a large scale, prompting many exporting countries to impose export quotas so that their own citizens are not suddenly forced to go without.

When Haiti's hungry poor went on a rampage last week, the United States closed its embassy there as a precaution. The incidents also alarmed British Prime Gordon Brown, who wrote a letter to his Japanese counterpart, Yasuo Fukuda, the current chairman of the G-8 nations. In the letter, Brown recommended that the international community endeavor to prepare a "fully coordinated response" to rampant hunger.

It would not come a moment too soon.

[freeek]

aww ... very sad @ clay's biscuits
In addition

Food Crisis Feared for the whole world, as Fertile Land Runs Out
Maps show 40% of Earth's land is used for agriculture
Growing human 'footprint' a risk to the environment

New maps show that the Earth is rapidly running out of fertile land and that food production will soon be unable to keep up with the world's burgeoning population. The maps reveal that more than one third of the world's land is being used to grow crops or graze cattle.

"Except for Latin America and Africa, all the places in the world where we could grow crops are already being cultivated. The remaining places are either too cold or too dry to grow crops," said Dr Ramankutty.

How can v survive widout food... : (
today they don't hav it...
who knows... tomorrow.... v'll be suffering starvation....
may Allah forgv our sins...!! n provide us all , the very basic necessities ov life .... Ameen !

[notxtra]

Finally someone spoke on this issue, you are very right Freeek that who knows, may be tomorrow we'll be suffering. An estimate tells that in US, Canada and Europe 40 to 50 percent of good, edible food is wasted every year. If we could stop this, millions of people in Africa, South Asia & Latin America would have enough to eat and survive.

I would like to this picture here, I think you might have already seen them:



What would you think if you see your own son, brother or sister in this state. Isn't it horrible?

Next time you visit a buffet, look around and check out other customers with overloaded plates that go back to the kitchen half full. If buffet restaurants charged for what was thrown away, that would stop the waste.

Just have look at what we do in Waleemas in Pakistan. People waste so much food that even thinking about it sucks. If you ever get a chance to go and look into the kitchens of our marriage halls you will be pained to see piles and piles of dishes of wasted Biryani, dripping qormas and barely touched desserts going in to the dustbin. Adding to this is the disturbing trend of preparing 15, 20 or even 25 dishes for a wedding dinner. Consequently people love to taste everything and in that process leave most of the dishes wasted because either they don’t like it or something else catches their attention. I guess in our lives, we have all been witness to guests who like to get their plates full as if they will never get a chance to eat again.

[notxtra]

The International Alliance Against Hunger issued a statement on March 8 calling for renewed efforts to end hunger throughout the world.

Following is the text of the statement:

Please pause for a moment and think whether you can do something simple that saves your money, helps to save someone else’s life and is good for the environment. Read this, and, if you agree, please forward it to all your friends, women and men, to your favorite restaurant to the shops where you buy food!

Facts

1. For the first time in human history, the world can feed all its people – all 6.6 billion of us – but fails to do so.

2. One in 8 fellow humans is still short of food – every day. Almost one third of the world’s population suffers from malnutrition: nearly as many over-eat as under-eat.

3. Poor nutrition in the womb and infancy needlessly causes one third of children’s deaths in developing countries.

4. This year world food demand temporarily exceeds production. This has led to a sharp rise in global food prices.

5. High food prices are great news for farmers around the world and will stimulate greater production in future. But now price gains are being captured by speculators.

6. High prices also mean that millions more poor people cannot buy the food they need for a healthy life for themselves and their children: the higher the price, the more people who will die young or fall ill.

7. One reason for the rise in food demand and prices is the huge growth in food wastage in developed countries. In USA, Canada and some European countries families throw out between one third and half the food that they buy.

8. This waste is “criminal” because, in a globalized market, the upward pressure on prices kills people.

Act Now!

1. Set yourself a zero food waste goal. Don’t be tempted to buy and cook more food than you need; store it safely before it goes off; stop and think before you throw out any edible food – can I create a tasty soup, stew, curry, risotto, pasta sauce, fruit smoothie…? Start today!

2. Learn more about how to end hunger and malnutrition or cut food waste (click on International Alliance Against Hunger - Home page for links).

3. Raise your voice to encourage your government to do everything it can to eradicate hunger and malnutrition: it can be done, and everyone wins.

(International Alliance Against Hunger, International Alliance Against Hunger - Home page)

[freeek]

Originally Posted by notxtra

Finally someone spoke on this issue, you are very right Freeek that who knows, may be tomorrow we'll be suffering. An estimate tells that in US, Canada and Europe 40 to 50 percent of good, edible food is wasted every year. If we could stop this, millions of people in Africa, South Asia & Latin America would have enough to eat and survive.

I would like to this picture here, I think you might have already seen them:



What would you think if you see your own son, brother or sister in this state. Isn't it horrible?

Next time you visit a buffet, look around and check out other customers with overloaded plates that go back to the kitchen half full. If buffet restaurants charged for what was thrown away, that would stop the waste.

Just have look at what we do in Waleemas in Pakistan. People waste so much food that even thinking about it sucks. If you ever get a chance to go and look into the kitchens of our marriage halls you will be pained to see piles and piles of dishes of wasted Biryani, dripping qormas and barely touched desserts going in to the dustbin. Adding to this is the disturbing trend of preparing 15, 20 or even 25 dishes for a wedding dinner. Consequently people love to taste everything and in that process leave most of the dishes wasted because either they don’t like it or something else catches their attention. I guess in our lives, we have all been witness to guests who like to get their plates full as if they will never get a chance to eat again.

really sad image... yeps I hav seen ppl like this kid... emptying bins n eating non-edibles... its Quite bad that v dont understand the fact that If v'd waste food today v are not gonna get it tomorrrow... In fact I myself too might hav wasted so much food... I regret.. !
n as for weddings... Gosh they are jus pomp and show.. such lavish xpenditures .... !! guests do get their plates all piled up wid each n every available dish at the moment nd then waste 'em.... nd in Asian countries specially in Pakistan this ritual can't be avoided... ppl wud hav to be xtremely courageous to oppose it n wed their child with simplicity...
If not on barat ppl wud definitely be looking forward to walima' grand meal... nd then jus One day party will let world becum short of food... each day If considered that atleast 100 couples get married, then it can be very well imagined how much food is being wasted daily... Nd these social "show baazi " is all good for nuthing...