In response to the violent food riots in Haiti, Yemen, Egypt, and the riots that have taken place over the past year in Mexico, West Bengal, Camaroon, Burkina Faso and Senegal, French Agriculture minister Michel Barnier is urging the EU to take action immediately against biofuels sourced from edible crops. Four of France’s ministers also insist that similar food riots are on the brink in some 30 other countries.
A demonstrator ate grass in front of a U.N. peacekeeping soldier during a protest against the high cost of living in Port-au-Prince earlier this month. Political leaders from poor countries contend that biofuels, which Western countries have been encouraging, are driving up food prices and starving poor people, making biofuels a new flash point in global diplomacy.
Meanwhile, today marks the official enforcement of the 2.5% biofuels mandate UK-wide.
I somehow don’t get the whole ‘let’s have a riot’ aspect of this. I probably sound relatively ignorant saying so. What gives?
hmm. i think it is less ‘let’s have a riot’ (which sounds rather carefree and jovial) and more ‘i am paying 3/4 of my income buying food that cannot keep my family fed while my government is selling farm land for development projects/forcing farmers to plant crops for biofuels/charging me 83% more for rice/beans/wheat than i was paying three years ago…so you know, let’s go steal some food and start some sh*t – then maybe someone will start to pay attention’
i mean, that is my best guess, as i can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to spend 3/4 of my income on food while this kind of backwards shady politricking is taking place. if i don’t get to eat my lunch one day i am ready to punch someone. so…maybe rioting doesn’t sound that crazy.
in sum: no, you are not ignorant in the least, as i would agree that this is hard to fathom. but perspective, at times, is harrowing.
there is another good article in the WSJ (source for most of the above) on this here: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB120813134819111573-lMyQjAxMDI4MDE4NTExMzUxWj.html