(no subject)

[novapsyche]

"Perfect Storm" in Food Prices Caused by Many Factors -- I didn't realize that meat and cheese were luxuries.

Kenya's Poor Hungry in the Midst of Plenty (thanks to willshetterly)

South Korea beef protesters detained -- "More than 200 people [were] arrested in Seoul in the latest protests over the decision to resume US beef imports."

Comments

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

An over-looked fact of the Irish famines of the mid-1800s is that Ireland, at the time, was a major food exporter. The farms were huge agri-businesses, owned by the aristocracy and worked by a relative few people. We're getting to that same situation here in America. Worldwide, it's a serious problem. It's worst when the poorest people can't grow their own food. I've often thought that a country is in decline when laws are enacted restricting the ownership of farm animals.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

What, like here in Ann Arbor (no chickens)?

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

But most of the available arable land in the world is already being used for crops.
That might be true in third-world countries, but it's not remotely true in the United States. Drive around through upstate New York for a while and, maybe a couple times per mile, you'll see a half-collapsed old barn surrounded by former farmland that's been reclaimed by grass, assorted shrubs, and the occasional fast-growing tree.

[laureth.livejournal.com]

My ex-gf, Linda, served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala.

When I thought of the kind of food they ate, I knew that Taco Bell was Americanized, but I pictured more like Tio's or something. (I was young and didn't know any better.) I learned that a wealthy person (like a peace corps volunteer) would have beans and a tortilla. If you were not wealthy, and most weren't, you got tortillas. If beans are a luxury for the poor in Guatemala, I can see how meat and cheese would be right outta there.