the future of food

[fonik]

anyone else watching this?

makes for pretty depressing viewing it has to be said, a provides a stark warning of times to come

the west's greed has detrimental impacts all over the globe (nothing new there i suppose) but when you see other countries land/sea ect being farmed to the brink of collapse just so we have a bit more choice in the supermarkets, it really hits home

plus, we dont really farm anything over here anymore. it seems mad to fly food half way round the world for our consumptioin when we could very easily just grow it ourselves here. but then the other side of the coin is that the export of food from other countries provides a lot of jobs for people who would be out of work otherwise. a solution beneficial to all (and the planet) seems pretty hard to reach....

[O-DoG]

buy local produce

[evolucian]

organoponicos (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/04/world/main4154650.shtml)

[rogue]

buy local produce

not always the best solution. Without some of these countries in the east being able to farm and export their crops to consumers in the west, they would make no money and be forced to starve or move into things like prostitution in order to support themselves.

[O-DoG]

not always the best solution. Without some of these countries in the east being able to farm and export their crops to consumers in the west, they would make no money and be forced to starve or move into things like prostitution in order to support themselves.

sucks to be them

[evolucian]

thats a little speculative, ali!

In the east populations are expanding, droughts and poor weather conditions impact on crops (2008 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/06/food.foodanddrink)),theyre keeping more of their produce for themselves and imposing export tax.

Wouldnt they starve if they export all their food? Who would have money to pay a prositute? I think the economics goes a bit deeper than that ;)

[rogue]

thats a little speculative, ali!

In the east populations are expanding, droughts and poor weather conditions impact on crops (2008 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/06/food.foodanddrink)),theyre keeping more of their produce for themselves and imposing export tax.

Wouldnt they starve if they export all their food? Who would have money to pay a prositute? I think the economics goes a bit deeper than that ;)

obviously it goes deeper than that, but it was a direct response to the 'buy local produce' comment. I always used to think this until i saw a programme recently that made me think that perhaps this is not ALWAYS the best option.

Also, i was referring to the poorly-paid workers who work in chicken factories for example. Millions of chickens are exported to the west ever day and the workers are treated pretty poorly. The working conditions are often unthinkable (in western standards) and they're paid very badly. Prostitution is an option becuase you can earn more, and hte customers are mostly tourists.

[evolucian]

the way i see it, if there wasnt demand from the West for imported chickens, then there wouldnt be a need for the East to export them, and therefore there wouldnt be a need (or less of a need) for industrialised chicken factories where there are poor conditions and poor pay.

i'm sure there is evidence that importing can be benefical to parts of foreign economies, but i think the supporting of home grown produce has more benefits to the whole of the economy (not just the factory owners and transporters).

[rogue]

the way i see it, if there wasnt demand from the West for imported chickens, then there wouldnt be a need for the East to export them, and therefore there wouldnt be a need (or less of a need) for industrialised chicken factories where there are poor conditions and poor pay.

i'm sure there is evidence that importing can be benefical to parts of foreign economies, but i think the supporting of home grown produce has more benefits to the whole of the economy (not just the factory owners and transporters).

it seems a bit like a vicious circle to me, one can't live without the other. Yes, without the demand for factory chickens from the west there would be no big factories/appallingworking conditions/overworked workers in the east, but then how would the workers be able to support themselves financially without all those jobs? Apparently huge amounts come from the countryside where they don't earn much money doing the back-breaking work in the rice fields and they can earn more working in the chicken factories. Sadly it means leaving family and, often, their children, back in the countryside and they send money. I think prostitution is one of the most financially beneficial occupations over there so many of the women end up being forced into it. It's a tricky subject this, valid points from all sides i feel.

[O-DoG]

stop having children if you can't support them

[fonik]

think we're fighting a losing battle to be honest. its changing hearts/minds/opinions in a generation of people that are used to getting whatever they want whenever they want it.

[evolucian]

it seems a bit like a vicious circle to me, one can't live without the other. Yes, without the demand for factory chickens from the west there would be no big factories/appallingworking conditions/overworked workers in the east, but then how would the workers be able to support themselves financially without all those jobs? Apparently huge amounts come from the countryside where they don't earn much money doing the back-breaking work in the rice fields and they can earn more working in the chicken factories. Sadly it means leaving family and, often, their children, back in the countryside and they send money. I think prostitution is one of the most financially beneficial occupations over there so many of the women end up being forced into it. It's a tricky subject this, valid points from all sides i feel.

Thats why Cuba's example is so good, becuase theyre supporting themselves using the land around them.

Bruce Parry talked about how indiginous people have been seduced by capitalism (or their desires depending on how you look at it), and left a life that already fully supports them, but doesnt match the perceived enjoyment of working and earning money to buy products (including food) and services.

Ray Mears for Prime Minister!

[O-DoG]

i wish the sun would hurry up and explode

[evolucian]

following on from Fonik; its pretty obvious our western culture has been seduced for a while, so much so that its become normal(im not immune to it either! lol). This is part of the reason that there is a western culture black out for most of the middle east.

Its probably only going to be though some serious shifts in energy supply/availability and or financial meltdown that will revert things!

[Misdemeanor]

I love strawberries in the winter.

[FINK]

To add to this when all the oil is dried up we won't have fertiliser anymore let alone the ability to fly the produce over here.

[O-DoG]

WIND POWER

KITES IN THE JET STREAM! WE'LL BE WIND RICH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

capscapscaps