Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site gargoyle.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes From: carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes) Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Let them eat the Gross National Product Message-ID: <202@gargoyle.UUCP> Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 15:15:51 EDT Article-I.D.: gargoyle.202 Posted: Thu Sep 26 15:15:51 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 06:06:41 EDT References: <3476@topaz.UUCP> <28200078@inmet.UUCP> <1790@psuvax1.UUCP> <192@gargoyle.UUCP> <119@oberon.UUCP> Reply-To: carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes) Organization: U. of Chicago, Computer Science Dept. Lines: 45 Mike Walker asks: >There seems to a problem here, if the world produces enough food to feed >itself why doesn't it? There is a limit to how much food a person can >eat. So what happens to the food not distributed? Why the governments >buy it up and store it till it goes bad? Or perhaps pay the farmers to >let it rot in the fields? Or refuse to let it go to the famine affected >areas for political reasons? An interesting question. The short answer is that the food is allocated inefficiently. 1. The world's staple food is the various kinds of grain, which are rich in protein and calories. Around one-third of the world's grain production is fed to livestock, which yield much less in nutritional value than they consume (beef cattle, in particular, are nutritional black holes). Most of the barley harvest, for example, is not eaten by humans. (Source: the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.) 2. Some crops are used to produce alcoholic beverages, but I don't know what proportion goes to this use. It is probably small. 3. Income disparities lead to inefficient use of food. The amount of food that regularly dies in my refrigerator could probably feed an entire Ethiopian family. The amount that Americans throw out could probably (wild guess) feed the nation of Ethiopia, not to mention Americans in need. 4. Some food is wasted through spoilage. The reasons for this are various. >The fact that the poor cannot afford the food is not the only limit to >its distibution. Government intervention is often the primary cause >of misdistribution. Let's discuss some specific examples. Of course, it is not only misdistribution that contributes to hunger; inefficient production is also a factor. The world is capable of producing far more food than it now does, even with existing technologies. In the great majority of cases I think one will find that the root cause of hunger is inequality in power over food-producing resources, and that hunger can only be eliminated through political and economic changes that redistribute this power. Nicaragua makes an instructive case study. -- Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes