This week’s reading of Brown’s Full Planet Empty Plate I found to be very eye opening. Not only is Brown a phenomenal writer, he brings into perspective the people that are being destroyed by our eating behaviors instead of just focusing on what the industry does to our bodies. I think we as readers tend to sometimes get caught up in our own selfish perspective in the sense that we look at the food industry disasters as only affecting us if we let it, if we choose to eat the food or engage in environmentally harmful acts. Yet we don’t pause to think that this hurts others in a way we can hardly imagine due to the fact that we reside in the United States. While discussing the trends of supply and demand and how our food prices are rising along with hunger, Brown transitioned to set the stage for this problem as seen in India. India is predominantly the most concentrated area of poverty and malnourishment in the world. While their economy is improving and the working wages are growing, the poor still cannot keep up with the rising prices of food. This causes the children to suffer the most. Brown explains how due to their continual malnutrition their growth mentally and physically is often stunted to the point where their IQ’s significantly drop and they are too weak to even walk to school, forgoing an education. Reading this really startled me and made the food crisis hit closer to my heart since now I am seeing real examples of how people are being impacted by the choices we make and the industries and policies we allow to continue.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwis7-HJuLjaAhXKlVQKHUNvCqEQjRx6BAgAEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fthewire.in%2F168809%2Fmalnourishment-uttar-pradesh&psig=AOvVaw0_KW5Tw9X8c68xpIw-VZrH&ust=1523749804531672
I think about global resource inequity often; perhaps more than I should, considering so many don’t seem concerned with it. That said, I agree with you and I am happy that you took this perspective. The majority of the population of the world lives under the threat of potential food insecurity, if they are not already food insecure. Brown did a great job of putting our food system into perspective in regards to this looming inequity. India was a great and tragic example of food insecurity; the scope of which I had previously been unaware. In light of all of this, I can’t help but think that GMO crops will be a part of the solution, coupled with food sovereignty movements; open source seeds, perhaps? I have no doubt that we need to democratize the production of GE seeds but I am curious what you think the other risks and rewards may be.
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