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As increasing population makes /arger demands on world food reserves, millions of lives hang in the
balance. WiU there be enough food to avert widespreadfamine? Where will the food come from? Will
ajjluent nations be required to lower their standardofliving to supply massive shipments ofgrain? Whose
responsibility is it to feed a hungry world?
by
Robert A. Ginskey
FEEDINGTHE
IWHQSE RESPONSIBILITY?
O
ne-fifth of the human race
faces possible starvation or
severe malnutrition. In many
parts of the world, 30 to 50 percent
of the children die before age five ,
millions of them because they sim–
ply cannot get enough foo.d. Many
survive but with permanent damage
to their minds and bodies.
"No tragedy is more wounding
than the look of despair in the eyes
of a starving child," stated former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
at the 1974 World Food Conference
in Rome. "Therefore, today, we
must procJaim a bold objective–
that within a decade no child will go
to bed hungry, that no family will
fear for its next day's bread, and
that no human being's future and
capacities will be stunted by malnu–
trition."
But Kissinger's lofty proclama–
tion was strikingly lacking in spe–
cific pledges of American food
assistance for the starving nations of
the world-an omission that high–
lights one of the most profound and
agonizing moral questions of our
day: Whose responsibility is it to
feed the world? Are Americans,
with their bountiful crops, moraUy
obligated to supply sustenance to
those less fortuna.te?
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1978
Without question, the American
people have repeatedly responded
to the needs of the starving peoples
of our planet. In the past ten years,
they have provided 84 percent of all
food aid given by the developed
countries. Millions of tons of grain
and billions of doUars in assistance
have ftowed from the U.S. to the
hungry peoples ofthe world.
Yet, what aid the U.S. has given–
however generous-has not been
enough to sat isfy ma ny inte r–
national food officials.
"The United States must assume
principal responsibility for pre–
venting fut ure world food disasters,"
asserts Dr. Sartaj Aziz, deputy direc–
tor of the World Food Council. But
the U.S. , according to Aziz, has un–
justifiably liquidated its food re–
serves. Furthermore, says Aziz, "the
overconsumption of food in the rich
countries is at least one factor in the
relative scarcity of supplies for the
poor."
Food, Politics, and Confrontation
Third-World spokesmen also warn
darkly of "retaliations and con–
frontations" if the developed world
does not provide more agricultura.!
and technological assistance.
Dr. Gelia Castillo, a rural sociolo-
gist at the University of the Philip–
pines, says the world 's.affiuent have
little need for solutions to wide–
spread hunger and malnutrition and
often stand
in
the way of change. "I
have no illusions tha t the rich of the
earth, whether in the developed or
the developing countries, would
substantially and deliberately alter
their life-styles so that the lower 40
percent might have a better lot in
life," observes Castillo. " lf they do
change, that is probably because
they are convinced that it is to their
best self-interest."
And what might that self-interest
be? Philippines President Ferdinand
Marcos has called on the world's
rich nations to share their wealth
wi th the Third World or face the
alternatives of "war or death." Mar–
cos stated tbat unless the world's
resources are shared equitably,
"it
would not be a question of whether
but how soon the ever growing
number of the world's poor would
chall enge the ever diminishing
number of rich for a just sharing of
these resources.
"The rich nations of the world
have no rea listic alternative, "
warned Marcos, "other than to co–
operate with the Third World if they
want to avoid confrontation."
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