Indians/Chinese cause the food crisis ??
What do you think ? Is there any statistical study been done ? I would like to know your comments about this.
Over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year (http://www.secondharvest.org/).
According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson (http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=56376), on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened.
- Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States.
Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.
-According to a 1997 study by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) entitled "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses", about 96 billion pounds of food, or more than a quarter of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, was lost to human use by food retailers, consumers, and foodservice establishments in 1995.
Source :http://www.soundvision.com/Info/poor/statistics.asp
posted by Revathi @ 9:05 AM
21 Comments
21 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
you actually pay attention to what that guy says?
Wanted to add my 2 cents to this. But first, I am an Indian, and very patriotic, too... So having said that, I have to say that there are elements of truth to what he said - here's why:
When India's and China's prosperity levels go up, their eating habits change. As people move up from poverty, they consume more meat. And to produce 1kg of meat, it takes 10 kg of grain - this is a fact that I read on the Wall Street Journal. Economists have been raising the impending food crisis concern for a while now.
So when you aggregate that over a lot of developing countries, it is one drive of the food crisi. The others are, of course the vulnerability of harvests in developing coutries to the weather and natural disasters, because of lack of irigation and farming techniques.
Anotehr major driver is the US bio-fuels program - it takes an insane amount of corn to produce just one gallon of gas...
Just wanted to share my thoughts. No offense. However, Bush putting it that way seemed a PR disaster..
This post sort of interested me, and I had to put my 2 paisa in as well.... and interestingly we've been discussing this very comment of Bush all over our office. Patriotic or not..I agree with the above comment from Spar.. we can't override facts, and I guess what he meant was that our middle class population increasing and demanding more is one of the causes for the demand for food. Of course the waste by the mighty USA and over consumerism there should be controlled first before pointing fingers in any other direction.
Instead of getting all riled over this fact, shouldnt we accept it in a more positive way.. that after decades of our large %age of population living below the poverty line, we finally have a bigger middleclass population who can stand up to a portion of the so called developed world??? Thks for providing the space for the rant.
A.
the average indian middle class family consumes and wastes a tiny fraction of what an average american middle class family consumes and wastes.
wonder how bush has the nerve to talk about it. as for the 'truth' in what he's talking about, the agenda is loud and clear. he's trying some blame shifting tactics and trying to justify why the U.S. doesn't want to be part of global environmental agreements.
bee
the american
p.s.: i'm sorry my president is an idiot i didn't vote for him. i'm even more sorry that others (not even american) are trying to justify the nonsense he spouts.
Bee,
I agree that the comment made by the President Bush sounds like blame shifting (and they have a fair share of blame, because of the bio-fuels program). However I am not alluding to wastage of food by the Indian middle class. And this is simple common sense - as people become richer, they eat more protein (more meat). And while cows and other livestock in India may be grass-fed, in many meat-mass-producing countries they are fed grain. So increase in demand for meat causes a shortage in grain. If you add supply shocks like poor harvest, crop failure and natural disasters like the Myanmar cyclone, all of these add up (and a significant portion also caused by the ethanol subsidies)
I am just trying to keep the facts straight - the only solution is to increase productivity, and we have to equip farmers with better seeds, better irrigation and farming techniques so that we can increase supply.
I read recently that a govt. program in Malawi that provided farmers with better seeds and equipment yielded 100% increase in harvest in just one year! Think of the possibilities if just one country could do that...
This comment has been removed by the author.
i agree with everything you say spar, but i maintain, bush's statement should be exposed for the red herring it is.
i doubt he was even partly alluding to what you're alluding to. he's just full of you know what.
spar,
For any issue there will be alwyas two sides. You always need to look at which side is more wrong.
Here, Bush's statement is wrong than Indians wasting food. Period. Revathi has posted links on why his statement is wrong.
Of course, in India there is a lot of wastage, but what Bush has done is instead of a solution to the crisis he and his cabinets are 80%responsible for creating, he just says 'dog ate my homework'. So whats the solution according to him? Indians eat less? Indians dont become middle class?
See thats the point I think Revathi and Bee are trying to tell.
His statement is not fit for a President of a super power.
You have a surprise waiting for you at my blog! :)
Thank you revathi for dropping by :)..sorry for not responding to your message earlier as I am holidaying abroad ..
Can't wait for Nov '08. Not sure whether everything will be alright. But at least there will be credible problems, than a dumb president.
The guy is an idiot. Developing countries are after the lives of developing ones for things like carbon footprint and food wastage, when it reality they were the ones who created the problems in the first place.
Very nice to see your open comment about this issue.All at home here also is very angry about it.
I heard something on the radio recently about the rice crisis in the east. Governments are asking restaurant and such to use less rice because of wastage.
I think one major problem is the ludicrous variety of products available. It's great to have some variety. People in the west should get back to more basic foods and less of it. It's healthier and would be better in terms of wastage and land use.
though this opinion from dubya causes much outrage, it is a fact - "The rapid economic expansion in countries like China, India and Vietnam tends to sharply increase the demand for food" - Not my words, but Amartya Sen himself opines in NYT - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/opinion/28sen.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
And you should be proud that a country like India can kick ass albeit in controlling the food supply of US. That is true empowerment. There are other factors in addition to this causing the crisis, but India's presence is being felt even by an ignoramus president of the superpower and it is high time.
-ash in the South Bay
Can you see any middle class inidan consuming petrol as much as an american consuming petrol who are above poverty line.
Bush need to really think before he speaks. " god knows how he became president".
so many interesting recipes in your blog!
I'm planning to do ragi idli after seeing the fluffy idlis in this blog!
what about fuel consumption by these guys ....does that suramount to wastage?????it doesnt seem to be fit for a president to talk like this
Yes. The way Kamal Haasan mocked Bush in Dasavatharam was fantastic and Kamal also told Bush never knew many things.
Indians are always great and this is a great blog with all due virtues to our food tradition.
Bun,Hamburger,Beef thimborkku ithu ellam puriyathu.. ithan arumai theriyadhu
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