What do you think of this statement?
not a fan of neo-malthus. so easy to say, such a disaster if taken seriously.
Do you agree or disagree?
Do you feel it speaks a partial truth?
the statement leaves out so much that it seems a metaphysical pronouncement rather than a statement about anything.
the correlation between the population explosion and the development of nitrogen fixing and fertilizers based on the results is startling to see.
food problems seem to be more distribution than production issues.
the international food production/distribution system that's taken shape since the 1980s under the general rubric of globalization is fraught with contradictions and problems, most of which stem from centralization of production (monocropping--economies of scale--markets being flooded with cheap nothern hemisphere goods--debt used to leverage reductions in state support for local agriculture in the south--collapse of these southern hemisphere sectors--exposure to underlying irrationalities that are of a piece with the neocolonial agri-order--situations that ripple through these irrationalities occur, which result in food shortages, price spikes, etc.)
Do you see this statement as embodying any single philosophy or political agenda?
it seems a malthusian proposition conditioned in part by a side-stepping of the complexities of production systems their organization and politics...so an abstract position rooted in the needless separation of disciplines.
Do you feel strongly one way or another about this statement appearing in a college textbook?
i would had i not seen so many college textbooks and found them riddled with stupidities.
how they get into place is an entirely different question..
What personal life experiences shaped your opinion on the world food crisis?
well, i've taught alot of university courses on globalization and food, on neoliberalism/globalization in particular...
Do you think there is a food crisis?
multiple problems which change over time.
to wit:
Food Crisis - The World Bank
their "solution"? mostly more neoliberalism, supported by extensive financial supports...but at least with this you get something like an overview of the state of affairs last year.
but of course things change:
Lower prices aggravate food crisis - U.N. official | Reuters
as do the assessments as a function of the institution doing the reporting.
to figure this sort of question out, access to data helps:
World Food Situation: World Food Situation
but parsing it is it's own problem...
Can you suggest other methods that will help meet the growing nutritional needs of our world?
thinking about this. i do, but i don't have time to write them out at the moment. it's probably better for reasons of postlength.