Are biofuels a 'crime against humanity'?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7065061.stm Biofuels 'crime against humanity'
The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels. Mr Ziegler's remarks, made at the UN headquarters in New York, are clearly designed to grab attention. He complained of an ill-conceived dash to convert foodstuffs such as maize and sugar into fuel, which created a recipe for disaster.
I have very mixed feelings on this outcry. I accept that biofuels are not sustainable, but I also accept that all modern agriculture is not sustainable.
I accept that the international trade values of grains have increased greatly in recent years. On the other side, I sort of think farmers complain about the LOW value for their crops, requiring government subsidies, so high prices ought to be good, right? It'll encourage farmers to stay in farming and pay more attention to their farming methods and perhaps become better farmers. It'll also help make all localized farming to be more competitive, and help consumers have their food produced closer to home where they can make a difference.
All that said in support for farmers, I accept "industrial farming" can take advantage of subsidies for biofuel production, and encourage expansion of agriculture, causing a greater destruction stress on the environment, AND not being properly accounted for in cost, ALTHOUGH same issue can be true for food production.
So ultimately I'm against biofuels AND food PRIMARILY for the CONTROL of land by large agriculture for exports, without consideration for local needs. I don't know how to face this issue, where a minority controls resources that fail to meet the needs of a local population.
I do think control of food can be used as a weapon, as a means of controlling a population AND it is hard to see this in a land of apparent plenty, where we have supermarkets full of more choices that we could otherwise imagine without seeing it.
Mostly I think we ALL need to consume defensively, and respect those who have less, helping them meet their own needs before exports.
The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels. Mr Ziegler's remarks, made at the UN headquarters in New York, are clearly designed to grab attention. He complained of an ill-conceived dash to convert foodstuffs such as maize and sugar into fuel, which created a recipe for disaster.
I have very mixed feelings on this outcry. I accept that biofuels are not sustainable, but I also accept that all modern agriculture is not sustainable.
I accept that the international trade values of grains have increased greatly in recent years. On the other side, I sort of think farmers complain about the LOW value for their crops, requiring government subsidies, so high prices ought to be good, right? It'll encourage farmers to stay in farming and pay more attention to their farming methods and perhaps become better farmers. It'll also help make all localized farming to be more competitive, and help consumers have their food produced closer to home where they can make a difference.
All that said in support for farmers, I accept "industrial farming" can take advantage of subsidies for biofuel production, and encourage expansion of agriculture, causing a greater destruction stress on the environment, AND not being properly accounted for in cost, ALTHOUGH same issue can be true for food production.
So ultimately I'm against biofuels AND food PRIMARILY for the CONTROL of land by large agriculture for exports, without consideration for local needs. I don't know how to face this issue, where a minority controls resources that fail to meet the needs of a local population.
I do think control of food can be used as a weapon, as a means of controlling a population AND it is hard to see this in a land of apparent plenty, where we have supermarkets full of more choices that we could otherwise imagine without seeing it.
Mostly I think we ALL need to consume defensively, and respect those who have less, helping them meet their own needs before exports.
posted by Ares Olympus at 8:55 PM
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