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Major Problem In Haiti
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Haitian rioters storm presidential palace - CNN.com
another good article about yesterday's situation ...I have heard that its making most world headlines.
another good article about yesterday's situation ...I have heard that its making most world headlines.
Yes, people are hungry. The 40% rise in food prices during the past year is causing unrest all over the world. We need to get back to growing food sensibly and not use our food for fuel.
This should indeed be a warning for us (the world) to start on focusing on growing food, like Chris just wrote... This seems to get worst at a very fast pace...
-Starvation ? That is very harsh... It is so real when it is in a neighboring nation, a place where one goes to vacation... Bitter...
-Starvation ? That is very harsh... It is so real when it is in a neighboring nation, a place where one goes to vacation... Bitter...
Well said Chris.
In the past year I have offered the use of some land to a couple of different organizations to teach people how to grow food. A learning project that feeds. They get all excited and then.... nothing.
Can the Dominican Republic see another mass migration from Haiti?
Regards, Ringo
In the past year I have offered the use of some land to a couple of different organizations to teach people how to grow food. A learning project that feeds. They get all excited and then.... nothing.
Can the Dominican Republic see another mass migration from Haiti?
Regards, Ringo
A total mess over there and I really don't see a solution in the near future for that country.
Ringo, mass migration?? You better believe it! Never underestimate what lenghts people would go to eat. They are reporting that people are rumored to be eating some form of mud-pie or dirt cake.
"Give people what they want or they'll take it from you" - Voltaire
Ringo, mass migration?? You better believe it! Never underestimate what lenghts people would go to eat. They are reporting that people are rumored to be eating some form of mud-pie or dirt cake.
"Give people what they want or they'll take it from you" - Voltaire
Ringo, I will send you a pm as this is where a large part of my heart is ... You've also reminded me of an excellent organization in Santiago that does this very effectively and I'll list it on the appropriate thread.
Unfortunately this has been going on for quite some time. They are called mud cookies, and it is unthinkable that people have to resort to eating this. It made the front page of the NY Times a few years ago and I could not believe it when I read it.
But from what I've gathered in the news clips Haiti doesn't grow any of the food it needs and whatever they get has to be imported.
Huge problem and it definitely will cause an increase in illegal migration to the dominican side of the island.
Haiti?s poor resort to eating mud as prices rise
Cookies made of dried yellow dirt become sustenance, livelihood, concern
updated 3:43 p.m. PT, Tues., Jan. 29, 2008
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums and Charlene Dumas was eating mud.
With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies.
Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.
I too watched this on the BBC news this morning. Very sad.
I havnt opened the links in the above thread - however on the UK TV around 3 weeks ago ( BBC 2 - cant remember the name of the program - some guy goes around 3 world countries talking about food ) Haiti was the star of the programme.
The "locals" in the documentary were saying its the fault of the US with rice imports being so cheap that it is now not work Haitians growing their own rice to sustain the family/village area and make a little money for other living expenses.
I dont fully remember - but something to do with American farmers being allowed to import their rice into Haiti?
Im sure Lambarda will have the time to look it up on the BBC web site??
It does seem a shame that the locals now cant sell the rice that was grown because of America - at least thats how it came across on the BBC.
I havnt opened the links in the above thread - however on the UK TV around 3 weeks ago ( BBC 2 - cant remember the name of the program - some guy goes around 3 world countries talking about food ) Haiti was the star of the programme.
The "locals" in the documentary were saying its the fault of the US with rice imports being so cheap that it is now not work Haitians growing their own rice to sustain the family/village area and make a little money for other living expenses.
I dont fully remember - but something to do with American farmers being allowed to import their rice into Haiti?
Im sure Lambarda will have the time to look it up on the BBC web site??
It does seem a shame that the locals now cant sell the rice that was grown because of America - at least thats how it came across on the BBC.
Removal of tariffs - Haiti has never been in a strong bargaining position, let's face it - led to cheap imports and decimated the local industries. Then what happened? Importers/traders hiked the retail prices up anyway. Bit like what's happening here with DR-CAFTA.
Haiti: a few lessons on free trade - Dominican Cooking
Haiti: a few lessons on free trade - Dominican Cooking
Yes, the local crop became 'too expensive' as the country was flooded with cheaper imports. The imports were cheaper because they were subsidized by their governments and did not reflect the real cost of growing rice. This is an old problem however but to a large measure has contributed to the current problem in terms of food supply.
The current problem is that nothing will grow now because the land has become impoverished. People do not have the wherewithall to grow food any longer (seeds, water, low-tech implements etc). Being able to grow their food will of course help countries like Haiti, but the trees were chopped down. The trees supplied organic material and fertilizer to keep the soil bearing well, the trees supplied shade to keep moisture in the soil and protect the watershed, the trees supplied soil stabilization etc etc). Once the trees went, the land became impoverished and the rich topsoil is washed away with even a little rain. Once the land is impoverished, many hundreds of thousands or millions of trees are needed before you can create fertile soil again.
Some people will shoot me for this, but a few Cuban agronomists need to go and teach Haiti what to do with their soil to enrich it again. These people are eating at least. They don't have televisions and they don't have modern infrastructure and this is not a shame but if anyone is able to withstand a shortage of food, it is Cuba. They already know how to low-tech food growing.
And in amongst all this doom and gloom I came across this article this morning from the BBC: " ... the global downturn might be still more severe than it is currently predicting, and says that there is a one in four chance of a "global recession" when world growth falls below 3%."
BBC NEWS | Business | IMF slashes world growth forecast
People in countries like Haiti are facing an increasingly grim future. The IMF in this report warns: "that the spillover will more severe in Latin America or in countries linked to the dollar, which has declined sharply on world currency markets."
Mud cookies? my heart aches.
I agree with the moderator (post #4). In fact, we should be growing some of the things we eat. Granted, some people do not have a back or front yard, but many do, especially in rural areas. It bugs me to see people just planting flowers (in the DR) and never a tomato plant. Flowers are beautiful (and needed) but we need to eat.
In the DR most people use all their available land for growing pl?tanos and don't consider planting a vegetable garden. Has any of you heard of square foot gardening? It can feed a whole family. Some items can even be grown in containers.
I agree with the moderator (post #4). In fact, we should be growing some of the things we eat. Granted, some people do not have a back or front yard, but many do, especially in rural areas. It bugs me to see people just planting flowers (in the DR) and never a tomato plant. Flowers are beautiful (and needed) but we need to eat.
In the DR most people use all their available land for growing pl?tanos and don't consider planting a vegetable garden. Has any of you heard of square foot gardening? It can feed a whole family. Some items can even be grown in containers.
We'll hold our fire Chris
, but on a serious note, how will haiti ever be able to grow their food? I remember reading a great 5 or 6 part article about the disaster and deforestation of Hiati and they reported that Haitians were cutting down their trees to make Coal for fuel. So, it appears that this country may not be able to self-sustain itself without outside help. They will have to be fed
Ricardo900, imho it is one of the greatest disasters of today that countries have forgotten to be self-sustaining in terms of food. A secondary disaster is that we've lost our own power in terms of where our food comes from. Haiti is a disaster for many reasons, but the ecological disaster can be mitigated. If I had a choice in what to do, I will do a combination of no-dig agriculture and vermiculture somewhere where there is water and start growing masses of healthy vegetables. People can eat within 2 months of starting, so for 2 months people will have to be fed. After that, they can feed themselves. And yes, it is not so easy! :laugh:
If you are interested in this topic, here is a book list.
The Revolution will not be Microwaved - Inside America’s Underground Food Movements - Sandor Ellix Katz.
Slow Food - Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasure of Food - Carlo Petrini; with Ben Watson and Slow Food Editore
Everything I want to do is Illegal - War Stories form the Local Food Front - Joel Salatin. Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat.
Full Moon Feast - Food and the Hunger for Connection - Jessica Prentice
Food not Lawns - How to Turn your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community - Heather C. Flores
If you are interested in this topic, here is a book list.
The Revolution will not be Microwaved - Inside America’s Underground Food Movements - Sandor Ellix Katz.
Slow Food - Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasure of Food - Carlo Petrini; with Ben Watson and Slow Food Editore
Everything I want to do is Illegal - War Stories form the Local Food Front - Joel Salatin. Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat.
Full Moon Feast - Food and the Hunger for Connection - Jessica Prentice
Food not Lawns - How to Turn your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community - Heather C. Flores
The developed world can win either way: If they use their subsidized crops to make biofuel, then they are making the poor people of the world go hungry by jacking up the price of their staples. If they sell their subsidized food in the market below what the market rate would be, well than they are just killing off poor farmers that can't compete with such low price. Can't win either way!
(this comment isn't meant for what's specifically happening in Haiti, but what's happening in the world in general)
They are/were there. When I was working in Port-de-Paix, our office was based in the Ministry of Agriculture building. It was also the base for a Cuban agronomist/vet who was working there for 2 years as part of the Cuban government's overseas cooperation programme. Lots of doctors too, which is not very popular with Haitian doctors because the Cubans provide free treatment.
The projects the organisation I worked for supports in Haiti involve food security, seeds and tools, household vegetable gardens, livestock, and crop diversification alongside coffee production. It is a drop in the ocean compared to the total needs, but they serve to demonstrate that with the right sort of support and training at the initial stages, people can become more self-sufficient in feeding themselves. Visitors to northern Haiti may have noticed 'Let Agogo' dairy products - that's one of the projects being funded, with good results.
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