Should The Greedy Control Our Food??

    It is obvious that climate change is happening, floods, droughts, extreme storms, along with rising temperatures is no longer a prediction, it is here and now. Of course, as is always the case in this capitalist world, when things go wrong it is always the poor and the low waged that pay the highest price. The adverse conditions are creating havoc with our agriculture, which transfers into higher prices for our food. It is symbolic of the insanity of this greed driven capitalist system, that as food prices are rising across the planet, and people can't afford the food the help to grow, or serve in restaurants, governments across the world are dismantling social services.

     One problem that we don't hear much about is the drought in California. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 67% of the state of California is classified as “extreme”, a further 9% is “exceptional”, this means wells running dry, no where for cattle to graze, forcing farmers to sell off their livestock, creating a shortage of dairy produce, glut of meat and then a shortage meat. Some scientists claim that 2013/14 is the driest season for 434 years. California is the top agriculture producer in the U.S. And one of the largest in the world, producing beef, dairy produce, wine, and some of the largest fruit and vegetable crops.

      Why should we worry if California goes dry? Well America is a large, rich and powerful country, when it runs out of food, it starts to suck in more from an already suffering world, creating greater shortages and higher prices. Europe is not exempt from the effects of climate change, scientist state that in southern Europe, from southern France through Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and to the Balkans, stream and river minimum flow could fall by as much as 40% and in periods of drought that could increase to 80%. This of course would result in food shortages in this area, being exacerbated by the the mighty dollar sucking in food from this and other areas.

      It is also very obvious that if we continue to let “market forces” sort things out, a group of rich people will make a killing from the food crisis, the rich will feed very well indeed, as they usually do, and the poor will go hungry and increase in numbers. Tackling climate change is only one part of the solution, but is to little avail if we don't sort out the system of distribution of the world's food. At the present the food is there to see to our needs, the problem is who owns it, and who decides its distribution method. The “market” is no more than a euphemism for a “bunch of greedy rich bastards”, do we really want them to be in control of OUR survival? 

 

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YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY.

       

        This article first appeared on annarky 1 blog on April 6 2010 but I think it is worth repeating. It is just one field where the big money funds manipulate and speculate to increase their wealth at the expense of the ordinary people. Crisis after crisis is inflicted on the ordinary people to the benefit of the pampered parasites that feed of the people, all in the name of profit, it is called capitalism.

    

         "Over the last year we have seen food prices rise at an alarming rate with the pundits pointing in all directions as the possible area to blame. It is drought and other adverse weather conditions, it is the increase population, it is the bio-fuel drive, it is increase demand from the growing middle class in China and India and so they go on. There is absolutely no doubt these factors do play a part in the increase but what is driving the prices up quicker than any other factor is undoubtedly the speculators, “non commercial traders” as they are called in the financial circles.

        Before 2007 the percentage of trading in the world’s food markets controlled by speculators was about 12%, today it is 43%. That is a lot of extra money being pushed into the food market with the result that prices start to rocket. What we are talking about is greed little people with millions scurrying around looking of ways of turning their millions into billions and they don’t give a damn of the consequences to the rest of us. The other bunch of greedy speculators that are pushing the price of food through the roof are of course the speculators in the oil futures markets. We live oil, as it its price goes up so does food transportation, fertilisers and the energy required to process that food. These two groups are holding the world’s population to ransom in their quest for ever more millions for themselves and their shareholders.

       In 2007 before the prices started to shoot up there were 800 million people on this planet who could not get enough to eat, with the daily increases in prices this figure is also shooting up dramatically. We are now hearing of food riots in countries across the globe, the speculators are starving the world in an attempt to increase their already over abundant wealth. Our political “Leaders” are meeting here and there in capitals across the world and making noises but they don’t have the muscle nor the will to control the big corporate greedy beast that is devouring our planet.

       While those government representatives are uttering vacuous mush on the subject the developed governments are subsidising one of the elements of the price increases, bio-fuel. It is stated that by 2017 40% of the maize production in the US will be for bio-fuel. This will certainly increase the speculators wealth and will certainly help keep the internal combustion engine going but will do nothing but more harm to that ever growing, starving multitude of 800 million+ .

      This is the capitalist system, it is not set in tablets of stone, it is not the only way to organise our societies, it is a man made system that fosters greed in parallel with poverty. It can be removed and a fairer and more humane system set up in its place if the people so desire."

 

       Only when we organise to finally put the parasites and their greed driven system in the dustbin of history will we ever see an end to the suffering of millions of hungry people.

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