Basic HTML Version
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The
Politics
of
Desperatlon
by
Keith Stump
In
the
tace
of skyrocketing fuel. feni·
hzer, and
food
costs,
crop
failures and
bad weather. the nations of the devel·
oping Third World - threatened with
bankruptcy and starvation - may be
torced to tum to the "politics of desper–
..a.tion.•
~n
an anempt to alleviate their
eeute situation.
John H. Steinharf. Profeuor of Geol·
ogy and Envlronmental Studies at the
University of Wisconsin at Madison,
fears just such a devefopment. Dr.
Steinhart was one
ot
severalleading
sci–
entists participeting in
a
symposium on
Scíence
11nd
Foreígn Po/icy: The Food·
EnergyRelationship
at the 141 st annual
convention of the American Association
tor
the AdllaiiCement
ot
Scklnce.
held in
January inN-YO<it City.
" There have nevar befO<'e been
as
many hungry, miserable people in the
world," Dr. Steinhart emphasized. •
Many experts ostimate that over a bil·
lion people worldwide - one in tour -
are
suffering
malnutrition.
Because
1t1e
underdeveloped nations
ore not heavily energy intensiva in their
ogriculture but rely primarlly on human
ond animal labor. Dr. Steinhart noted a
tendency on the pert of sorne observers
to minimiZa the impact of higher fuel
costs on them.
For the underdeveloped countries,
Plain TruJir
editorial
statr
members
Gene Hogberg. Keith Stump and
Roben G!nskey recenUy atteoded
key oews oonfereoces and
symposia
at the annual meeting of the Ameri–
can
Association for Advanccment of
Sciencc beld thi$ year
in
New York.
Tbeir
rcports oo these pages analyzc
tbe latest - and
véry
troublesome -
trcnds in the
fields
of food and
natu·
ral food polic:y as
seto
by some of
tbe top &cienti!ic thinkers in the
areas. Coupled with their analyses i$
an in-deptb look at the state of
American •$"culture,
plus an
on·
tbe-spot repon from food-short,
po–
liticaUy cxpl.osive Ind¡a.
WEEK ENDINO MARCH 8. 1975
the capital ourllows tor oil have been
1maller than for the industrializad na–
tions -
only aboU1
s
24 bollion last
year. "Yet... stressed Steinhan. " fo,..
such industrial development as they
have accompllshed, and for such fuel
needs that they have [fuel tor tractors
and irrigation pumps. for example].
they're at least as dependent on Middle
Eastem oil as anyone. More than hall
their commercial energy needs are de·
rived from impoi'ted oil from the OPEC
[Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries] nations. The cost
ot
oil has
about tripled fO<' them. With their
pre–
cerious financ:ial situation. the problem
hasbeen
dís~strous.
••
Cost
of lmPQ.rted Food
Up -
Ald Volume Down
On top of all this. surplus tood from
the industrializad nations has simply
be·
come too expensive for the poorer na–
t.ions to buy to supplement their own
inadequate production. According to Dr.
Steinhart. " the adminedly poor diet
ot
an lndian peasant would have cost
t200 at U.S. market pricea in 1972-
a country that has a per capita income
ot
S
90. Since the OPEC price increases.
this disparity has worsened:·
But what about food given away O<'
subsidited
by
loñg-term loans? " lndus·
trialized nationa:· Dr. Steinhan ob–
servad. " incurring record balanca-of·
payments deflcits. will have turther defi·
cits as they anempt to respond to
human misery by subsidizing food ship–
ments to poor nations. " He noted that
the dollar outflow
tor
the Western indus·
trialized nations for oil atona in 1974
wasabout $95 billion.
United Statas " Food for Peace pro–
gram" shipments dropped to 1/ 3
ot
its
1972 level in 1974, Dr. Steinhart
noted, adding that the industrializad na–
tions are "between a rock and a hard
place"
~
between their moral and hu·
manitarian in<:linations on one side. and
the turther defocits they would iiiCUr
should they attempt to respond to
human hunger by subsidizing food ship–
ments. A prime example of this is the
United States, which registered an $8
blllion balance-ot-,payments loss for
1974.
Even asida trom this bala/ICe
ot
pay.
ments problom. the Unitod States sim·
(Conlinued on
p<Jg<
11, col. /)
"Lavlsh
Banquet"
Feeds
the
Wealthy in a Hungry World
by
Gene H. Hogberg
Few people in the affluen1. well-ted
nations reahze howmuch of the food on
their abundant tables
comes
from other
areas of the world - often at the unin-
1ended expense of the poorer, tood–
short, overpopulated pans of the globe.
At the most important news confer·
enea hetd during the rocent American
Association
tor
the
Advaneement of
Science (AAAS) convention in New
York. noted food authority Georg
Borgstrom zeroed in on this particular
Bspect
of tha growing diversity between
theworfd's rich and
poc)r.
Dr. Borgstrom told newsrnen at the
January 28 naws conference that Eu·
ropa, Japan, the U.S.S.R.. and the
United States are increasingly dopen·
dent on a messive ffow of imponed
foods and leed to maintain their life–
styfes. and that such a flow inevitabfy
means less tood i s available for the
poorer developing countries.
As
a prime example
ot
this, reponed
the Michigan State University Prole.
sor,
tour fiftN
of
the ocearKatches are
moving into the well-to-do nations. Hall
of· the catches during tho peak tishing
period of 1970-71
mov~
as
fish meal
jnto the animal feeding troughs of the
affluen1 world. The massive
fosh
hauls
off the Peruvian coast did not go to
sofve the problem
ot
hunger in South
America. Rather, the catches were sold
- and the subsequent fish meal used
mostly as protein supplements for 1he
American cattla and poultry ondustry.
What about the prodigious American
soybean herves!? Hasn
' t
it
helped alfe–
viste worfd hunger? Dr. Borgstrom an–
swered: "The soybean crops have long
been 1outed as a major U.S. contribu·
tion to alfavia1ing world hunger. yet
around 3 / 4 of the exports wen1 to
Eu–
rope.
1
/5
to Japan, and tha ramainder
was divided up between the two minute
countries of Israel and Taiwan.
Less
than 2 percent ever went to the hungry
worfd. This includes charity sendings
through CARE, Meals
tor
Millions. OX·
FAM and similar.··
Dr. Borgstrom, author of the, book.
The Hungry Plsnet,
afso added 1hat
America's ne1 con1ribution to the worfd
household is frequently overrated by
not reeognizing 1he
fact
that tha Uni1ed
States is top ranking as a buyor of beef
as well as of fish and f ish producto.
lts
imponation of dairy products corre–
sponds in amoun1 of protein to the total
milk production of Norway One need
only look at the oontinually oncreasing
number
ot
toreign cheeses dispfayed in
American grocery stores.
"Ghoar Continents"
FMd
theAffluent
Dr. Borgstrom
placad
the world
food
production and distribution imbalance
in an interesting dimension.
.
..Europe is littie awaro
ot .
the two
huge 'ghos1 continents' on which it de–
pends- each corresponding 10 around
50 million hec1ares [125 million acres]
ot
highly cuftivated land. .. Borgstrom
asserted.
·
One of these "ghost continents" is
t~e
land
in other oountries usad to pro–
duce food for expon to the affluent
na–
tions of Europe. Eacl't year the European
nations buy in the
world
martcet more
pfant (not animal) protein than the
whole lndian subcontinent is eating. Eu·
rope's other " ghost continent" is 1he
ocean,
since
it
produoes fish for ··ex·
portO#
to affluent nations.
Similarly, 8orgstr.om pointad out 1hat
" Japan is relying on more 1han ' six Ja–
pans· lria trade - 640% of their rilled
acreage with about hall that figure
com–
ing trom the oceanl ' '
Enter Russia
The worfd tood pic1ure was turther
distorted in 1972 when the Soviet
Union enterad heavily into 1he worfd
grain market Massive purchases of
U.S. leed grains - virtualfy wiping out
the American surpfuses - were made,
s1ressed Borgstrom, "not 10 kaep hun·
ger away frorn the daify Soviet scene
but 10 secure and enhaiiCe further the
ascending nut ritional afflueiiCe of 1hat
giam:· The Soviet Union has under–
taken a massive ímprovement program
(Conrlnu.d on
p<Jg<
11, col.
J)
9