julia

Title
Starving Haitians riot as food prices soar

Link
Starving Haitians riot as food prices soar - Americas, World - The Independent
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Excerpt

Independent.co.uk
Starving Haitians riot as food prices soar
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Thursday, 10 April 2008


Demonstrators have tried to storm the presidential palace in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, as protests over hunger and rising food prices spread across the developing world.


Demanding the resignation of President René Préval, the protesters attempted to break through the palace gates before being driven back by a contingent of Brazilian United Nations peacekeepers who used tear gas and rubber bullets.

The prices of basic foods such as rice, beans, condensed milk and fruit have risen by more than 50 per cent in Haiti, where the poor even rely on biscuits made of mud to get through the day. Even the price of this traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs has gone up to more than $5 (£2.50) for 100 biscuits.

There is now a grave danger of a coup being triggered in what is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Rising costs of commodities and basic foodstuffs have brought immense hardship to the population, 80 per cent of whom survive on less than £1 a day and only a minority has paid full-time jobs.

And it's not just in Haiti where unrest is growing. A combination of high fuel prices, booming consumption of food in increasingly wealthy Asia, the use of crops for biofuels, and speculation on futures markets have driven commodity prices to record levels.

The rising food prices are causing waves of unrest around the world. In Manila, troops armed with M-16 rifles now oversee the sale of subsidised rice, the latest basic crop to see a spike in prices. In Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon there have been protests in recent weeks all related to the food and fuel prices.
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Comment:

So sad.

Rollerball

Hey I just realized, BioFuel, a whole new reason for the world to hate America.

Just wait til the rumor gets around that Americans are burning corn that could be used as food to run their cars. If you think they hated us because of our greed for oil just wait til they start figuring they are starving so we can run our SUVs.

PursuitOfHappinessParty

It's not a matter of food production as it is of food deliverability costs. BioFuel and corn-based ethanol additives account for far less loss in food availability than Exxon (as example) profits do.

Not to mention that biofuel will more likely come from non-food sources, once and if it becomes a true alternative fuel option.

I'm much more worried about the valid reasons the world has to hate America, more the reasons than the existence for I share in the disdain.

We went there with good intentions once before, now it's the U.N.'s turn.

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It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again.

julia

This was what shocked me the most, could not bold it in my first post:

in Haiti, where the poor even rely on biscuits made of mud to get through the day. Even the price of this traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs has gone up to more than $5 (£2.50) for 100 biscuits.
(Since this is a British paper that would be a "cookie"-j)

There is now a grave danger of a coup being triggered in what is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Rising costs of commodities and basic foodstuffs have brought immense hardship to the population, 80 per cent of whom survive on less than £1 a day and only a minority has paid full-time jobs.

And it's not just in Haiti where unrest is growing. A combination of high fuel prices, booming consumption of food in increasingly wealthy Asia, the use of crops for biofuels, and speculation on futures markets have driven commodity prices to record levels.

The rising food prices are causing waves of unrest around the world. In Manila, troops armed with M-16 rifles now oversee the sale of subsidised rice, the latest basic crop to see a spike in prices. In Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon there have been protests in recent weeks all related to the food and fuel prices.

ianmine

very true! Pork producers have already started making noise about this...
when $2 /bushel corn can be turned into around $6-$8 worth of ethanol....well, you do the math, huh.

Rollerball

You know that, and I know that, but try explaining it to a mob of starving Haitians. I doubt they get this kind of detailed information.

PursuitOfHappinessParty

$6/8 minus the $2 cost = $4/6 profit. What do I get?

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It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again.

babylonDon

1/1.5 gallons of gas.

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"America, the greatest, best country that God has ever given man, on the face of the Earth"- Sean Hannity, professional broadcast journalist.

“To the contrary, has anybody ever referred to torture as punishment? I don’t think so.”-Antonin Scalia

PursuitOfHappinessParty

Is that before or after adding ethanol?

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It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again.

babylonDon

Yes

__________________
"America, the greatest, best country that God has ever given man, on the face of the Earth"- Sean Hannity, professional broadcast journalist.

“To the contrary, has anybody ever referred to torture as punishment? I don’t think so.”-Antonin Scalia