If we produce enough food to feed everyone in the world, why don't we?

Question

This question was asked at the Dropping Knowledge event on 9th
September by Amy Johnson, 32, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

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Answer 1

We already have way more than enough food to feed the entire world. As it is huge amounts of food go to waste every year. The problem is not that there is not enough, but that the people in countries cannot afford it, and if their harvest fails they can't afford to have it imported either.

Ah, so why don't we give them this food that's going to waste for free, we have no other use for it? Well, that would bankrupt the economies of the countries receiving the food. In those places many peoples livelihoods rely on the food industry; farming is the one of the most common occupations, and then people get employed to package, sell, collect or prepare the food the farmers grow.
Now imagine what would happen if suddenly there was loads of free food around. Why would people still BUY the produce grown in the country? They wouldn't. As no one was buying he food the farmers would go bankrupt as they would make no money. As the food industry would make no money, and thus collapse, the other people payed to package, sell, collect, prepare, etc the food grown wouldn't make any money either, as they would be out of a job or their employers couldn't afford to pay them. Many, many people who previously had a job and enough money to survive would be much, much poorer. This would be especially bad considering in most third world countries the food industry is the main employer.

Thus giving third world countries free food would make the people even poorer.

Also it'd screw up the rest of the country too as the food industries are very important to the economy.

Answer 2

Because then the Bourgeoisie would have one less string from which to pull the Proletariat by. Maybe they would have to be more ethical, pay workers more, exploit children less. Without withholding resources, pyramids don't get built. I personally hate the pyramids and marvel at what free men(women) can accomplish. I look to Wikipedia and other open-source projects as inspiration.

If you have X amount of food and it takes X amount of food to feed everyone, I don't see the problem. If you want to leverage people as your puppets, then it makes total sense. Farmers aren't growing food so people can starve, they are feeding the planet. Crazy idea, since food is a military-resource, why don't we bankroll farmers (we already do), and then give people food with no strings attached (without corporate middle-men(women)).

Scarcity is manufactured, it is built-in. Part of the design. A way to keep you running, moving, jumping, crunching, competing, fighting, killing, consuming. The only thing that is truly scarce is women in China, and even that was manufactured. We have plenty, but we have built a system of MORE. MORE is the problem. MORE is different than more. Poor people need more, and once they have more, and are no longer poor, they will still not want MORE just yet. MORE is the extra millions of dollars of interest on hundreds of millions of dollars. MORE is having billions, but still demanding increased influence.

We could have world peace tomorrow. Most problems are imagined. Money means nothing to any other animal. Dogs have no comprehension of bills. Birds don't understand credit. All of this is in our heads: imaginary. You are being pulled along, forced to work. The only thing we have kept from Stalin is "He who does not work, nor shall he eat."

You have asked the right question, the answer is feeding everyone so we can stop being wrong.

Answer 3

I'm sorry I can't provide a website, but you are correct, the world does produce enough food to feed everyone. The people who were instrumental in getting the one world government started has decided that there are too many people in the world to be controlled, so they are allowing some of them to starve to death. I am sorry your friend won't listen to reason when the plain truth is right in front of him. And you're not going to find a lot of edu type sites, because these people who wanted to start the one world government realized that they are going to have to start brainwashing (educating) people in the ways that they want them to believe, so they also got involved in the educational system so long ago that many of us weren't even born yet. That is also why there are a lot of people who think the world is overpopulated and they only want to have one child or less per couple, and that anyone who has more than 2 is being selfish. Think about it, if every couple has one child or less, they are still reducing the population because they are not even replacing themselves. I know this sounds crazy, but it's true. Start checking out the facts and do research into this. You will be very surprised.

Answer 4

Because even though we have so much food that we could if we cared to, it's because people allow a price tag to be placed on such a nessesity. Since it's "worth" something they feel like they would "loose out" if they just gave it away.

It's the sad fact that people can't *afford* the food. It takes $$$ to buy the food. The prorducers excuss is it takes $$$ to make the food. Only foolish people allow money to make the foundation of agriculture or any food process for that matter rely on $$$. Food was here before capital, in our eyes we've made it capital. Now we demand an unequal exchange for x amount of money for x amount or type of food.

The simple answer:
People do not have the money for the food. Then the food goes to waste when it could feed the world 3 to 10 times over (depending on where you get your figures from, some say 3 others say more up to 10).

The other part is politics (but has it's roots in economics lol go figure). These politics restrict access to information/education, people in areas could make their land fertile if they possessed the knowledge. Also places that have natrual resources shouldn't be bulldosed over for farm land, when that land be it rainforest or dessert already has natrual food available for that region. It's all about knowledge when it comes to that. Again, keep people ignorant, and they will depend on you more... which ties right back into economics as in economic independance ;-)

Cya!
::: Peace :::

Answer 5

People need to get paid before food is just given to people.

Besides we haven't figured out where we are going to put some new garbage dumps yet. Can't just think of growing food all the time.

We will have to cut some trees down too and build a new highway. But not before we build some new condos.

Food! ha!

Answer 6

Because there is a basic flaw in our economics and the FDA. We produce a lot of corn, but most of it is inedible and only fit for corn syrup and corn meal. We have come off a cold war mentality that included growing stuff for arms that we no longer need - yet now the soil is good for nothing else, so we waste a lot of our farm land on inedible or unhealthy stuff. It boils down to politics, economics and "we just always did it this way" (people are often slow to change and the more involved the slower the change).

It sometimes helps to think of governments as large, lumbering, disorganized individuals - and it often takes a long time for a thought to get to it's hands. Fear not - the change is coming. Eventually we will get it right.

Peace!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Because of bad politics and corruption.

In Africa, for example, food is prevented from reaching people because of political upheaval, and an irrational attachment to neo-Marxian political ideas. India, while ostensibly a "democracy," is beset with corruption at all levels of government, and its government fosters a near-communist economic system.

Look at communist Cuba - supposedly some sort of "socialist paradise," where the average family gets chicken or beef to eat "maybe once or twice a year..." (according to the National Geographic). In communist North Korea, people are starving (some 2 million and counting since the 90s), yet South Korea has no such problems with food.

Remember the "Live 8" concerts? They were a joke. For all the weeping about the poor in Africa, none of the performers or speakers even MENTIONED the lack of democracy and free markets in Africa (according to the New York Times). Instead, they seemed to blame "capitalism." The real reason is a LACK of capitalism there. (Yeah, good work, Bono...).

Again, the reason people starve or are undernourished is because of bad politics, not "global warming" or "capitalism" or "white male heterosexist oppression" or anything like that.

Love Jack

Answer 9

One can write volumes on this, without reaching any valuable conclusion. If there is a will, the UN can be enabled to facilitate better farming and better economic management of the produce in the poorer countries. Since that is not the priority of the people who can, let us not waste others' time.

Answer 10

Because the dividing system is not proper. There are Bill Gates and multy millioners who can do the magic. One side hunger deaths and other side spending too much money in marriage functions and making films . Crores of money involved in wars also. Every Government should take steps to do this.

Answer 11

First off...I don't believe our production is enough to feed the world. Secondly...if it was enough, then who bears the burden of the cost. This may sound cynical, but I say to those who live in desert areas...."It's a desert ! Food don't grow there...go to where the food is."