Welcome To The Machine

An article by Kirtana Chandrasekaran and Martin Drago, “Small Scale Food Producers are the Solution to the Global Food Crisis”. Population growth and carrying capacity are predominantly influenced by accessibility to food. It is not lack of food, but lack of access (too expensive etc) that causes famine, a distinction little known by the vast majority. 

Those most affected are the rural poor in developing countries, specifically peasants and similar small-scale food producers. Natural crises have far greater impact on these people’s livelihoods than we are used to in this day. To our shame and failure, over 800million people will go hungry tonight, whilst over 2billion are grossly overweight or obese. 

Evidence is turning against the monocultures, hybrid seeds and … of agribusinesses and governments globally, who advocate them as the best way to feed a global population. Local producers are reversing this globalised-food trend, showing that in fact locally grown and sourced food is much more efficient and effective at feeding not only the producers, but the local people too. In Asia, all rice is grown on farms of 2ha (average) and remains the rice-powerhouse on the planet. Backers of industrial continually turn to our growing population as justification to overlook the environmental injustices – despite the age old truth it is not lack of food, but unfair distribution and lack of access that leads to hunger. This is a consequence of free trade over the universal human right to food. It is no surprise much food is used as cattle fodder or converted into agrofuels – driven by profit and consumption, instead of need. 

“National food security targets are often met by sourcing food produced under environmentally destructive and socially exploitative conditions that destroy local food producers but benefit agribusiness corporations”. Instead food sovereignty promotes local control  by communities and producers, whilst promoting health and agro-ecology – a UN recognised method to counter multiple issues; hunger, environmental degradation, and poverty. “The solution to global hunger is within our grasp, but it requires a fundamental reform of the global food system: a wholesale shift from industrial farming to agroecology and food sovereignty”. Earth can support us, but can we use it wisely? Can we wrest power from those in control before it’s too late?

I enjoy the video for the imagery and ideas it raises;