As a media event, the Egyptian uprising has been exhilirating.
In all the hoopla and celebrating, though, it’s easy to lose sight of some fundamentals. One is the important role of food lurking in the background. Egypt has been wracked by food riots in the recent past–most notably in 1977 and again in 2008–when the government attempted to reduce its food subsidies, which led to significant price increases.
Egyptians spend about half of household income on food. I don’t know the exact dynamics, but it seems as if Egyptian agriculture suffers from tight government controls, while at the same time, the country is America’s largest customer for wheat and corn.
By contrast, Americans spend between 10% and 14% of their household incomes on food, or less than a third as much as the Egyptians.
One of the big reasons Americans spend so much less of their incomes on food is because of this country’s factory food system that has developed over the last sixty years. Of course, government subsidies have played a role in encouraging massive production of such basic crops as corn, soy, and wheat.
Part of the reason our government has pushed so hard for the factory system is to encourage exports, so developing countries like Egypt and Tunisia pay top dollar for our food. But another less discussed reason is that full bellies and cheap food discourage discontent at home.
Go back in history, and more often than not, uprisings are fueled at least in part by empty stomachs. When people have to pay 40% and more of household income for food, you are likely to have discontent. Nothing is more threatening to politicians than a hungry populace.
The publication Business Inside last month identified “25 countries whose governments could get crushed by food price inflation”…and already two have gone down (Tunisia and Egypt).
By the way, the Egyptian uprising isn’t a lock to lead to democracy. An intelligence service I like to monitor is expressing skepticism (as it did when the Iranian riots failed to produce serious change two years ago). “We do not want to be killjoys now, since everyone is so excited and happy. But we should point out that, in spite of the crowds, nothing much has really happened yet in Egypt. It doesn’t mean that it won’t, but it hasn’t yet. An 82-year-old man has been thrown out of office, and his son will not be president. The constitution and parliament are gone and a military junta is in charge. The rest is speculation.”
It’s important to understand as well why events like the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings help reenforce our government’s commitment to the factory food system, despite growing concerns about health issues tied to cheap food. We may see people demonstrating for human rights. Our leaders see people with empty stomachs clamoring for cheap food.
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Many in Egypt have come to see the interfernce of US policy as a major problem to quality of life in the region.
If one looks at the unrest as it spreads in the region it closely follows US foreign policy and the support of the governments in those countries now seeing unrest.
As for percent of total income spent on food, those statisitcs get twisted when Egyptians who for the majority on live on less than $2.00 per day spend as much as 40% on food, when
the US has one of the highest incomes per capita in the world so naturally we spend less on food given we earn more per person.
Yes there is a cheap food policy but is it really, or is it just a measure of control and concentration of wealth.
Farmertim
This is in the nature of agricultural civilization which are heavily dependant on annual cearal grain crops to feed the population.
America too will be facing open public revolt as we continue to severely erode some of the richest topsoil in the world (the Midwest) through the destructive FOOD INC policies of cheap corn, soy, wheat, etc… and food prices skyrocket as oil shortages collide with the need for more and more chemical agriculture because of depleted topsoil.
The solution to all this is PERMACULTURE, the replacement of desertifying annual monocultures with management-intensive perenial polycultures.
This will mean that it will take much more than the current 2% of the population being directly involved in agriculture and food production. It will mean more like 20% or even 40% of the population involved in agriculture. But permaculture systems are exponentially more productive than the annual monocultures on a per-acre basis.
IT is a common myth that tropic rainforests have the most bio-mass per acre of any world eco-system. Temperature savannas do — and its because of all the mammals (large and small) in temperature savannas. Tropical Rain forrests only have the most PLANT bio-mass… for plants and animals combined, the temperate savanna is #1.
If we want to survive peak oil, our agricultural system should be modelled after the eco-system of the temperate savanna.
It is radical this notion — that the last 10,000 years of agricultural civilization (the primary source of carbs, protein, and oils comes from annual cereal grains) has been a giant mistake. But it is a mistake we must confront, as difficult as it will be.
And how many countries are ruled by the juntas? and their fate–has it improved?
Today I read that the recent freezes have destroyed many crops, here and around the world and food prices are to raise significantly. Perhaps it will encourage buying local grown? And growing in your own backyard.
http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/11_Cosmic/110209.Sysco.Mexico.Freeze.pdf
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048885,00.html
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq5.html
The Food Revolution is alive and well in California. Jamie Oliver has been drinking raw milk along with his four kids and wife in LA since arriving here months ago to produce his Round Two series of The Food Revolution. The new series is airing this spring….stay tuned. He caused quite a stir when the LA City Schools would not let him work his food revolution activism on their turf.
On Sunday, I was asked to come to a school in the LA City district and present my "Share the Raw Milk Secret" educational presentation to students, the parents and teachers. Sounds like I may get in and I think I will bring Jamie as my special guest.
I interviewed Jamie this Sunday at the LA Hollywood Farmers Market when he came to buy his weekly stash of OPDC raw milk. By the way, Jamie is a berry addict…he bought so many fresh berries.
He said that "Americans do not know how to get pissed-off". He said we need to get really pissed-off because our children are being sickened and poisoned by processed foods. That is the message of his TV Series that goes-live this spring. I have a feeling this is not the last you will be hearing of Jamie and Raw Milk and you know I am not leaving this common mission anytime soon.
We got 5 minutes of really good video with him…we are working on a YOU TUBE right now and it should be up later this week.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Organic-Pastures-Dairy-RAW-DAIRY-PRODUCTS/171911861180
Food Inc PMO CAFO FDA Roullette Goons….we are awakening and educating the people. This could very well be the first GOOGLE-FaceBook Food Revolution with "Dollar Voting" as the main instrument of change and revolt.
We will not consume your dead toxic fake foods anymore.
It hurts kids!!! You are done!!
Mark
Eco 101 ALL FIAT CURRENCY RETURNS TO ITS INTRINSIC VALUE ZERO Voltair
There is now only 2 cents more that can be debased by QE3 QE4 QE5!!! Not a good idea to ignore this ELEPHANT in the room!!!
OT NYSE to be sold to Germany!
But on topic halfway into the video a guest states "we are exporting inflation to Egypt thats why the Egyptians cannot put food on their tables"
Its all about runaway printing of fiat dollars is it not??? Will not this soon befall us as well???
It amazes me that they probably paid for this study. What a waste of time and money.
In all the years that I have been reviewing/instructing about diabetic diet, the majority of people have no clue what a carb or calorie is. People at work eat processed foods and feel they are eating "healthy" foods as they spout off the calorie counts..Low calories does NOT mean it is healthy..They can't respond to the chemicals in the phoods.
The most simple way was to teach patients how to read the actual ingredient list and figure our the various names for sugar and salt, and them the added chemicals…..And these are people who have been to the dietitian to learn about the special diets for diabetes/heart disease,etc.
The link to Business Inside was enlightening, Makes me hesitant to buy a house now. Retirement is next month.
You'll have to forgive me, I meant to say TEMPERATE Savannas have the most bio-mass of any eco-system.
The FDA is a "military hunta" in charge and in control of our food. At the NCIMS they are the Military and they are in charge of the Milk Mafia. They refuse any democratic review of anything that we the people want!!! and or ask for?? They refuse to follow their own "Citizens Petition" policies and proceedures. If you want them to follow their policies you have to sue them and then they tell the court that: " US Citizens have no right to bodily health, have no right to select foods of our choice for our families, we have no right to privately contract. If this is not a military dictatorship that has trampled our civil rights and constitution….then I am hard pressed to describe a military dictatorship.
http://www.organicpastures.com/fda_move_to_dismiss.html
Check out these pictures of our FDA Military Hunta uniform dress….
http://www.usphs.gov/aboutus/uniforms.aspx
If it quacks, swims, has feathers, lays eggs….craps all over the place….then it is probably a….Military Hunta in charge of our GMO, Cloned, hormone injected, antibiotic fed, filled with preservatives, CAFO PMO NCIMS toxic fake food supply.
Mark
Have you heard of this book:
"The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery and Destructive Economics"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grip-Death-Slavery-Destructive-Economics/dp/1897766408
Good read.
Interesting to note that the term "mortgage" has the same etymology as the word "morgue." Our entire money supply is created by debt-slavery!!
At the Healthy People FDA DHS Website there is a list of comments regarding the 2020 Health People FDA Goal of increasing the number of states that ban raw milk.
Not one of the comments supports this vision or goal. Not one.
http://www.healthypeople.gov/hp2020/Objectives/ViewObjective.aspx?Id=490&TopicArea=Food+Safety&Objective=FS+HP2020%e2%80%939&TopicAreaId=22
Read them all at this link…..I find this fascinating. If this FDA goal remains intact then we know that we definitely have a Miltary Hunta in Power and it is not answering to the people.
Mark
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/why-arent-g-m-o-foods-labeled/?hp
Just one example:
"Also curious is that the {GMO} salmon is being categorized as a new animal drug which means that the advisory committee in charge of evaluating it is composed mostly of veterinarians and animal scientists, instead of, say, fish ecologists or experts in food safety. Not surprisingly, the biotech industry has spent over half a billion dollars on G.M.O. lobbyists in the last decade, and Michael Taylor, the F.D.A. deputy commissioner for foods, was once vice president for public policy at Monsanto. Numerous groups of consumers, farmers, environmental advocates, scientists, supporters of organic food and now even congressmen last week, a bill was introduced to ban G.E. salmon believe that the approval process demonstrated a bias towards the industry."
GMO salmons will be classified as a new animal DRUG???
"Michael Taylor, the F.D.A. deputy commissioner for foods, was once vice president for public policy at Monsanto."
What a surprise. And we're supposed to believe FDA is really interested in protecting the people from raw milk.
HYPOCRITES!
To my mind Michelle Malkins lead story today is germane to our issues [http://michellemalkin.com/ Super Nanny: First Lady of Junk Science Michelle Obama] and I followed her lead quotation to what looks like fertile ground for thought and action at: http://www.independent.org/blog/index.php?p=1089 which shows links to:Robert Higgss superb article, Were All Sick and Government Must Heal Us, as well as Health Insurance before the Welfare State: The Destruction of Self-Help by State Intervention, by Pavel Chalupn?ek and Luk Dvo?k. I'll read all these references later.
The real question in my mind is "what are the needed changes and how are they to be effected?"
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard