Our Green World: The Green Revolution in 2010

Today (August 9) I read in the in the New York Times article India Asks, Should Food Be a Right for the Poor? that despite the Green Revolution of the 20th century which virtually eliminated food shortages in India by introducing high-yield grains and fertilizers and expanding irrigation, India still has alarmingly high rates of food poverty and hunger -- perhaps 42 percent of all Indian children under age 5 are underweight. Some analysts see this as a failure of the food distribution system – not the food production system. So I wondered what is the state of the world food supply? Why are some of us pretty well fed, if not stuffed, while others are almost starved? There are no simple answers and lots of debate. But if you are concerned, start with some of these: In Stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world food system author Raj Patel notes that one billion people worldwide are overfed while another one billion are malnourished and underweight. He traces the politics of food – globalization, NAFTA, agriculture corporations, who are the winners and who are the losers. And since perhaps 40% of world trade in food is dominated by transnational agricultural corporations with strategic partnerships with biotech seed and pesticide companies such as Monsanto, then you might want to check out The World According to Monsanto. The author Marie-Monique Robin is an award-winning French journalist and filmmaker who based this book and a documentary film by the same name on a three-year investigation of Monsanto, the agribusiness giant and the world's leading producer of genetically modified organism. The author portrays Monsanto’s monopoly of genetically modified corn and soy ingredients as a threat to our health and to the global food chain. But there is another perspective. Read Food Politics What Everyone Needs to Know. The author, political scientist Paarlberg, is an expert in food-policy work and brings together all aspects of the food debate: food shortages and safety, organics, and obesity. He writes : “Many on the right will be offended by the harsh judgments I offer regarding processed food companies and the livestock industry, and by my endorsements of foreign assistance and a larger public sector role in rural development.. The political left will probably object to my optimism regarding agricultural science, my critique of organic farming and also my tolerant view of private markets and international trade.”


What do you think? How concerned are you about the future of food?

- Karen S.