Comments on: Empty Calories and Promises http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/2011/06/27/empty-calories-and-promises/ 195 million stories of malnutrition. Rewrite the story. Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:58:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dario http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/2011/06/27/empty-calories-and-promises/comment-page-1/#comment-2417 Dario Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:03:58 +0000 http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/?p=1225#comment-2417 And don't forget to sign the petition in the "take action" section! Or at the very very bottom of the main page. And don’t forget to sign the petition in the “take action” section! Or at the very very bottom of the main page.

]]> By: Dario http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/2011/06/27/empty-calories-and-promises/comment-page-1/#comment-2416 Dario Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:00:10 +0000 http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/?p=1225#comment-2416 Yes that's exactly what they're saying. The U.S. require food aid to come from the U.S. to support American farmers, so they're sure they will sell their crops on the "aid market". It's a revamp of an old policy that was aimed at developing agriculture: when farmers are sure to sell of all their crops they can invest in more and more equipment without having to worry about the market. The problem is that over time the U.S. has created tens of thousands of jobs entirely dependent on food aid. So if you were to one day solve the food crisis or famine in Africa, tens of thousands of people in the US would loose their jobs. And for countless reasons, African farmers should be the one helped to develop their agriculture (I think there is a recent UN program that's proving somewhat successful), and in priority in countries neighboring those plagued by the famine since they have better weather conditions for farming. Developing agriculture there would also develop regional trade, and make these countries more independent (i.e. less dependent on international aid) which is after all the end goal of humanitarian aid. Or at least it should be its end goal. And of course Africans producing food for themselves implies that they would tend to produce better quality too. You can read more on the issue with USAID and NGOs here: http://www.poverties.org/famine-in-africa.html (check out the food crisis page too for a broader picture) Yes that’s exactly what they’re saying. The U.S. require food aid to come from the U.S. to support American farmers, so they’re sure they will sell their crops on the “aid market”. It’s a revamp of an old policy that was aimed at developing agriculture: when farmers are sure to sell of all their crops they can invest in more and more equipment without having to worry about the market.

The problem is that over time the U.S. has created tens of thousands of jobs entirely dependent on food aid. So if you were to one day solve the food crisis or famine in Africa, tens of thousands of people in the US would loose their jobs.

And for countless reasons, African farmers should be the one helped to develop their agriculture (I think there is a recent UN program that’s proving somewhat successful), and in priority in countries neighboring those plagued by the famine since they have better weather conditions for farming. Developing agriculture there would also develop regional trade, and make these countries more independent (i.e. less dependent on international aid) which is after all the end goal of humanitarian aid. Or at least it should be its end goal. And of course Africans producing food for themselves implies that they would tend to produce better quality too.

You can read more on the issue with USAID and NGOs here: http://www.poverties.org/famine-in-africa.html (check out the food crisis page too for a broader picture)

]]> By: Jamie Lim http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/2011/06/27/empty-calories-and-promises/comment-page-1/#comment-2387 Jamie Lim Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:00:18 +0000 http://www.starvedforattention.org/blog/?p=1225#comment-2387 I'm not entirely sure that I understand the economic issues presented in the short film - why does the U.S. require the vast majority of donated food come from U.S. farms? Is MSF saying that the donated food could be produced somewhere else for less cost, thus freeing up money to spend on higher quality foods? I'm very interested in this topic, and I admire MSF so much for advocating such issues that many aren't aware of. Thank you for all the work your organization does - thank you for being that beacon of hope. My dream is to work for MSF one day. I’m not entirely sure that I understand the economic issues presented in the short film – why does the U.S. require the vast majority of donated food come from U.S. farms? Is MSF saying that the donated food could be produced somewhere else for less cost, thus freeing up money to spend on higher quality foods?

I’m very interested in this topic, and I admire MSF so much for advocating such issues that many aren’t aware of. Thank you for all the work your organization does – thank you for being that beacon of hope. My dream is to work for MSF one day.

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