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G8 
Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 10:29:20 AM PDT
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Kudos to OurFuture.org for saying what I've been saying for a while about the rich countries' plan to bring food to poor countries. On the G8's promise to give $20 billion for agriculture in the developing world, they say:
What is being pitched as a new agricultural revolution under these forms of investment will look very much like the colonial model of exploitation with the exception that the output will meet commodity demand in high growth countries versus demand in the colonizing nation.
A well coordinated strategy would use the WTO, not to police nations to reduce barriers to trade uniformly, but to coordinate international agricultural policy to ensure food security for all, particularly ensuring short-term efforts to address food security by dumping excess commodities on low income country markets do not crowd out domestic production of agricultural crops in the medium to long-term.
Why aren't we seeing true change in global policies to ensure food security for all? I did a recent follow the money piece on Alternet asking just that. Our global food security policy seems to be entirely driven by the interests of our largest multinational corporations, plain and simple.
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Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 07:30:23 AM PDT
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Today's episode of Democracy Now! featured 2 Ghanaians commenting on Obama's trip to their country. When asked about the G8's recent promise of food aid, the two Ghanaians were far from joyous. Their reaction was actually quite skeptical. One said that "the devil is in the details" because often the U.S. & other developed countries' end up screwing over Africa by dumping cheap sudsidized commodities on them in the form of food aid and undercutting their own farmers. He added that we need to look closely at what is being promised because often these big announcements involve repackaging old money and calling it new money in order to promise a large dollar value in aid. All in all, he said, the promised aid may "do more harm than good."
On that note, Food and Water Watch just put out a press release that was critical of the Obama Administration's efforts to combat global hunger and poverty. They say Obama's policy "merely dusts off the tired, failed approaches of the Bush years," referencing free trade and reliance on biotechnology as policies that do not work. I've pasted it below in its entirety so you can take a look.
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Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT
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Via Campesina, an international group representing farmers of all nations, put out a position paper on this weekends G8 summit entitled "The G8 should clean up their own mess instead of dictating to poor countries what to do." I quite agree.
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Thu Aug 28, 2008 at 17:00:00 PM PDT
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This is from 10 days ago but I didn't want to let it pass unnoticed on here. Jim Goodman is a sustainable farmer, a Kellogg Food & Society Policy Fellow, and an occasional blogger on this site.
G8 Clueless on Food Policy
He comments on the G8's eight course banquet during their most recent gathering:
Earlier that day UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the world to reduce their "unnecessary demand" for food. Apparently he wasn't speaking to the G8 leaders.
Does the G8 really understand the food crisis? I don't think they have a clue. An eight-course banquet? How demeaning. They invite leaders from African countries affected by the food crisis, hear their pleas, but certainly, do not let them interfere with their agenda, their industrial development, their pleasure.
Talk about NOT leading by example. Good one Jim. Thanks for calling them on it. Read the rest of the piece for Goodman's analysis of their policies.
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