More Problems than Solutions

200 years after the fact, Malthus may finally be proved right.

So far "advancements" in technology have kept most of the world fed (marginally) and the population growing at a steady exponential rate. Fortunately, the Western world is finally coming to realize that unbridled consumption is not sustainable. Unfortunately, they are more concerned with everyone's consumption but their own.

The current spike in food prices and the lack of available food to people around the world is causing political turmoil. Jeffrey D. Sacks, economist and special adviser to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said “It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years. It’s a big deal and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes, and I think there’s more political fallout to come.” (NYT April 18, 2008).

Most troubling to me is the fact that the coverage in the media (NYT, WSJ, NPR) I have seen of the current "food crisis" seems to have a decidedly neo-liberal bent when it comes to finding solutions. Many have suggested that free trade can solve the problem. Others are promoting a second "green revolution" focusing on Africa, increasing fertilizer use and irrigation projects.

Why can't people learn that past "solutions" are what got us into this mess to begin with, and they certainly do not provide a way out?

Free trade encourages the centralization of agricultural production, increasing the profits and the preponderance of large companies. By doing this smaller regional producers are discouraged- to say the least- from continuing production and feeding their communities. Large-scale production of crops like soybeans, rice, corn, etc. have caused many of the environmental problems we are seeing today.

As rainforests are razed for crop production earth's lungs are removed; the trees suck in greenhouse gases, but once gone, they can do nothing. This also causes the rich topsoil to run-off quickly into lakes and streams, killing the wildlife that lives in them and rendering the land useless for crops in a matter of years. The minerals are sucked out of the land by unsuitable crops and replaced them with poisonous insecticides. Irrigation empties rivers and lakes, and we must remember that people are not only hungry, they are also thirsty. Fertilizers also pollute water sources, rendering them unsuitable for the fish that live in them because of algae growth. Not to mention the fact that they are created from fossil fuels. Finally, the run these farms people use tractors and sprayers. For neo-liberal economics to work, these foods must then be transported halfway around the world, using up more fossil fuels and emitting more greenhouse gases.

Solution indeed.