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  • 8/3/2019 More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungry

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    More Than 1 Billion People Are Hungr in the WorldBut what if the experts are wrong?

    BY ABHIJIT BANERJEE, ESTHER DUFLO MAY/JUNE 2011

    F a i he We, e i a ih hge. Ideed, he acee b he Uied Nai Fd ad Agice O

    2009 ha e han 1 billion people ae ffeig f hge gabbed headie i a a ha a be f Wd Ba eiae f h

    ee ie e ha a da a da ee did.

    B i i ea e? Ae hee ea e ha a bii ee gig bed hg each igh? O eeach hi ei ha ae

    eeig ba ad he d, cecig daa ad eaig ih ee ab ha he ea ad ha ee he b, f M

    Ideia Idia. We'e a aed i a eah f iigh f acadeic ceage. Wha e'e fd i ha he f hge, a

    e bad, i fa e ce ha a e aiic gad he; i i a d hee he ih egh ea a ae b

    hee e e de' eceai aae i e fd, ad hee aig ice cheae ca eie ee ead ee b e

    B fae, hi i aa he d a he ee ie i. A a f he i e eeig, idegica i

    e-ie-fi-a ae, agig e feig aid, f eae, hie he fac he gd bea ie eebace he fiece ic ba

    Jeffe Sach, a adi he Uied Nai ad diec f Cbia Uiei' Eah Iie, i e ch e e. I b ad c

    eeii aeaace, he ha aged ha cie ae becae he ae h, ifeie, aaia-ifeed, ad fe adced; h

    hee, ae i had f he be dcie ih a iiia age iee he he dea ih ch edeic be. B he

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    Indonesia distributes subsidized rice. Many states in India have a similar program. In the state of Orissa, for example, the poor are entitled to

    rice a month at about 1 rupee per pound, less than 20 percent of the market price. Currently, the Indian Parliament is debating a Right to Foo

    would allow people to sue the government if they are starving. Delivering such food aid is a logistical nightmare. In India it is estimated that m

    the wheat and one-third of the rice gets "lost" along the way. T o support direct food aid in this circumstance, one would have to be quite conv

    the poor need more than anything is more grain.

    But what if the poor are not, in general, eating too little food? What if, instead, they are eating the wrong kinds of food, depriving them of nut

    be successful, healthy adults? What if the poor aren't starving, but choosing to spend their money on other priorities? Development experts

    would have to completely reimagine the way they think about hunger. And governments and aid agencies would need to stop pouring money programs and focus instead on finding new ways to truly improve the lives of the world's poorest.

    Consider India, one of the great puzzles in this age of food crises. The standard media story about the country, at least when it comes to food,

    rapid rise of obesity and diabetes as the urban upper-middle class gets richer. Yet the real story of nutrition in India over the last quarter-cen

    Princeton professor Angus Deaton and Jean Drze, a professor at Allahabad University and a special advisor to the Indian government, have

    that Indians are becoming fatter: It is that they are in fact eating less and less. Despite the country's rapid economic growth, per capita calorie

    India has declined; moreover, the consumption of all other nutrients except fat also appears to have gone down among all groups, even the po

    more than three-quarters of the population live in households whose per capita calorie consumption is less than 2,100 calories in urban areas

    rural areas -- numbers that are often cited as "minimum requirements" in India for those engaged in manual labor. Richer people still eat mor

    people. But at all levels of income, the share of the budget devoted to food has declined and people consume fewer calories.

    What is going on? The change is not driven by declining incomes; by all accounts, Indians are making more money than ever before. Nor is it

    food prices -- between the early 1980s and 2005, food prices declined relative to the prices of other things, both in rural and urban India. Alt

    prices have increased again since 2005, Indians began eating less precisely when the price of food was going down.

    So the poor, even those whom the FAO would classify as hungry on the basis of what they eat, do not seem to want to eat much more even wh

    Indeed, they seem to be eating less. What could explain this? Well, to start, let's assume that the poor know what they are doing. After all, the

    who eat and work. I f they could be tremendously more productive and earn much more by eating more, then they probably would. So could

    more doesn't actually make us particularly more productive, and as a result, there is no nutrition-based poverty trap?

    One reason the pov erty trap might not exist is that most people have enough to eat. We live in a world today that is theoretically c apable of f

    person on the planet. In 1996, the FAO estimated that world food production was enough to provide at least 2,700 calories per person per da

    exists, but only as a result of the way food gets shared among us. There is no absolute scarcity. Using price data from the Philippines, we calc

    the cheapest diet sufficient to give 2,400 calories. It would cost only about 21 cents a day, v ery affordable even for the very poor (the world

    is set at roughly a dollar per day). The catch is, it would involve eating only bananas and eggs, something no one would like to do day in, day o

    people are prepared to eat bananas and eggs when they need to, we should find very few people stuck in pov erty because they do not get eno

    surveys bear this out: The percentage of peoplewho say they do not have enough food has dropped dramatically ov er time, from 17 percentpercent in 2004. So, perhaps people eat less because they are less hungry.

    And perhaps they are really less hungry, despite eating fewer calories. It could be that because of improvements in water and sanitation, they

    fewer calories in bouts of diarrhea and other ailments. Or maybe they are less hungry because of the decline of heavy physical work. With th

    drinking water in villages, women do not need to carry heavy loads for long distances; improvements in transportation have reduced the need

    foot; in even the poorest villages, flour is now milled using a motorized mill, instead of women grinding it by hand. Using the average calorie

    calculated by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Deaton and Drze note that the decline in calorie consumption over the last quarter-ce

    entirely explained by a modest decrease in the number of people engaged in heavy physical work.

    Beyond India, one hidden assumption in our description of the poverty trap is that the poor eat as much as they can. If there is any chance tha

    more the poor could start doing meaningful work and get out of the poverty trap zone, then they should eat as much as possible. Yet most peo

    than a dollar a day do not seem to act as if they are starving. If they were, surely they would put every available penny into buying more calo

    not. In an 18-country data set we assembled on the lives of the poor, food represents 36 to 79 percent of consumption among the rural extre

    to 74 percent among their urban counterparts.

    It is not because they spend all the rest on other necessities. In Udaipur, India, for example, we find that the typical poor household could sp

    percent more on food, if it completely cut expenditures on alcohol, tobacco, and festivals. The poor seem to have many choices, and they do

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    Why? And why did anemic Indonesian workers not buy iron-fortified fish sauce on their own? One answer is that they don't believe it will ma

    employers may not realize that they are more productive now. (In fact, in Indonesia, earnings improved only for the self-employed workers.

    not explain why all pregnant women in India aren't using only iodine-fortified salt, which is now available in every village. Another possibility

    may not realize the value of feeding themselves and their children better -- not everyone has the right information, even in the United States

    people tend to be suspicious of outsiders who tell them that they should change their diet. When rice prices went up sharply in 1966 and 1967

    minister of West Bengal suggested that eating less rice and more vegetables would be both good for people's health and easier on their budget

    flurry of outrage, and the chief minister was greeted by protesters bearing garlands of vegetables wherever he went.

    It is simply not v ery easy to learn about the value of many of these nutrients based on personal experience. Iodine might make your children

    difference is not huge, and in most cases you will not find out either way for many y ears. Iron, ev en if it makes people stronger, does not sud

    into a superhero. The $40 extra a year the self-employed man earned may not even have been apparent to him, given the many ups and dow

    income.

    So it shouldn't surprise us that the poor choose their foods not mainly for their cheap prices and nutritional value, but for how good they tast

    in his maefl decipion of the life of poor British workers in The Road o Wigan Pier, observes:

    The basis of their diet, therefore, is white bread and margarine, corned beef, sugared tea and potatoes -- an appalling diet. Would it not b

    spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the Ne Statesm

    fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary

    would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclinedspend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. W

    unemployed y ou don't antto eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit "tasty." There is always some cheaply pleasant

    you.

    The poor often resist the wonderful plans we think up for them because they do not share our faith that those plans work, or work as well as w

    shouldn't forget, too, that other things may be more important in their lives than food. Poor people in the developing world spend large amou

    dowries, and christenings. Part of the reason is probably that they don't want to lose face, when the social custom is to spend a lot on those oc

    Africa, poor families often spend so lavishly on funerals that they skimp on food for months afterward.

    And don't underestimate the power of factors like boredom. Life can be quite dull in a village. There is no mov ie theater, no concert hall. And

    work, either. In rural Morocco, Oucha Mbarbk and his two neighbors told us they had worked about 70 days in agriculture and about 30 days

    that year. Otherwise, they took care of their cattle and waited for jobs to materialize. All three men lived in small houses without water or san

    struggled to find enough money to give their children a good education. But they each had a television, a parabolic antenna, a DVD player, an

    This is something that Orwell captured as well, when he decibed how poor families survived the Depression:

    Instead of raging against their destiny they have made things tolerable by reducing their standards.

    But they don't necessarily lower their standards by cutting out luxuries and concentrating on necessities; more often it is the other way a

    natural way, if you come to think of it. Hence the fact that in a decade of unparalleled depression, the consumption of all cheap luxuries h

    These "indulgences" are not the impulsive purchases of people who are not thinking hard about what they are doing. Oucha Mbarbk did not b

    credit -- he saved up over many months to scrape enough money together, just as the mother in India starts saving for her young daughter's wbuying a small piece of jewelry here and a stainless-steel bucket there.

    We often see the world of the poor as a land of missed opportunities and wonder why they don't invest in what would really make their lives b

    poor may well be more skeptical about supposed opportunities and the possibility of any radical change in their lives. T hey often behave as i

    any change that is significant enough to be worth sacrificing for will simply take too long. This could explain why they focus on the here and n

    their lives as pleasantly as possible and celebrating when occasion demands it.

    We asked Oucha Mbarbk what he would do if he had more money. He said he would buy more food. Then we asked him what he would do if h

    money. He said he would buy better-tasting food. We were starting to feel very bad for him and his family, when we noticed the TV and other

    gadgets. Why had he bought all these things if he felt the family did not have enough to eat? He laughed, and said, "Oh, but telev ision is more

    food!"

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    S D B/G I

    Abhiji V. Banejee and Ehe Dflo diec he Abdl Laif Jameel Poe Acion Lab a he

    Maache Inie of Technolog and ae aho of Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the

    Wa to Fight Global Povert, fom hich hi ecep i adaped.

    (39) HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE

    BLOGAS

    11:09 AM ET

    A 25, 2011

    i agree.

    .

    AGFORCHANGE

    1:14 PM ET

    M 22, 2011

    Masters of the obvious

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    PM861207

    1:23 AM ET

    A 26, 2011

    Child Labour

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    THINKER65

    11:14 AM ET

    Apil 26, 2011

    It can get orse..

    Sad b e. B e m ndeand ha he poblem ih hnge ionl geing oe, becoe people can' ge job o he can'poide food fo hee familie...le hope econom and hnge ill eea bighe da..le' hope.

    HOWY

    8:02 PM ET

    Apil 28, 2011

    It can't get orse

    A long a people hink ha econom and hnge aeelaed...i canno ge an oe. Yo ee, i' no heeconom cii ha cae old' hnge, i' he eeience of econom. Econom eole aond mone andi onl inee i mone. If hee een' mone, economold no ei. If hee een' mone, hee oldn' behnge. Thee i a nee-ending abndance of naal food inhe old, b i' no geing diibed o poo conie fofee. Wh? Becae i' no ho mone i made. Mone imade b elling food, b elling omehing ha o lifedepend on. Ho pee i ha! I i no hei fal ha helie in a con ih fe naal eoce. I i o d ahman being o help hee people. While half he food in o

    con goe don he dain and hile he ich ea $200ake, he mone can feed an enie Afican illage fo a eek,he ich ae ill onl feeling o fo hee poo people andhe do nohing o help hem. God help all!

    VERMICIOUS KNID

    5:20 PM ET

    Ma 19, 2011

    I disagree

    Eal medieal Eope eied on localied bae economie,b hee ill ee eible famine on a peiodic bai.

    ALANNEWMAN

    11:42 PM ET

    Ma 23, 2011

    The root of cause......

    Poe...Hnge...Poo edcaion em...Racim like heMalaian goenmen...M fiend ho ok in a local omenhoe lif compan gge ha he limae oo of cae icopion.

    FP_READER

    1:09 PM ET

    Apil 26, 2011

    Nothing to see here

    Thi aicle pe mch gie confimaion of ha I iniiel knealead fom he ne. The 'aing' poplaion idea i a mh.

    The poblem i no food podcion o diibion. I i he cold, plain,had fac ha people ae pid.

    The pchae appliance, cigaee, alcohol and dg oeniion. The do no kno bee.

    The ane i edcaion. Ala ha been.

    Teach niion, aniaion, and fo heaen ake, ge id of eligiodogma. Tha moe hamfl han an one ohe ingle cae.

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    THE GLOBALIZER

    5:05 PM ET

    April 27, 2011

    Stupid?

    I'm not sure I understand our assumption that these peopleare acting stupidl.

    Human beings are not machines crafted solel for the purposeof living healthil. We have safened our world to the point thatthe stimulation of survival and interdependenc in the wild islessened. Without replacing that stimulation with surrogates(TV, cell phones, social networking and cultural inputs), someof the core pschological aspects of a human being breakdown.

    If ou want to see an unproductive poor person, take awa theirunhealth food and their TV and give them a bunch of blandhealth food to eat.

    MARHABA

    10:33 AM ET

    April 28, 2011

    The hate their

    The hate their povert-striken lives. The want it to change.The can. The don't know how. The are ignorant and in needof education. QED.

    BDMNTN

    3:17 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    the article specificall

    the article specificall quotes amarta sen saing thatdistribution is a major factor.

    keep blaming the poor. if onl everone worked as hard as oudid to be born in to a rational and wealth culture, there'd be nomore poor people!

    BRIANFLORES

    3:24 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    Take out "povert stricken"...

    ...and ou've probabl described most of the working class inthe industrialied world.

    BDMNTN

    8:53 AM ET

    Ma 3, 2011

    I SMART THESE PEOPLE

    I SMART

    THESE PEOPLE STUPID

    HOW DARE THESE PEOPLE BUY TV OR HAVE WEDDINGFOR CHILDREN

    THEY SHOULD SHUT UP, EAT SAME FOOD EVERY DAY,

    WORK HARD WHEN THEY CAN

    STUPID SWEATSHOP WORKERS, SHUT UP! WORK HARDDON'T HAVE FUN WORK UNTIL YOU DIE MAKE MEELECTRONICS SO I CAN HAVE FUN!

    STUPID GARMENT WORKERS, SHUT UP! WORK AS LONGAS YOU CAN DONT YOU DARE WATCH TV WHEN OFFWORK MAKE ME CLOTHES FOR CHEAP SO I CANIMPRESS PEOPLE!

    STUPID MINERS, SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU COMPLAINABOUT NOT BEING FED WHEN YOU SAVE MONTHS TOBUY TV! YOU SHOULD WORK ONLY I GET TO WATCH TV!

    IF YOU NO SAVE TO BUY TV, THEN YOU CAN EAT 2

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    ,NO SUCH THING AS POVERTY!

    DANOSTROWSKI

    1:22 PM ET

    Apil 26, 2011

    Ugh...

    Wha an oel egeie aicle.

    The aicle ok o pain he pice of eoce pen on aid being

    mimanaged b iaional poo people, ing keed aiic andeleced anecdoe. Reading he ok a a hole, i dance beeenhe poo of he old and he poo of pecific place like India (eenpa of India) and poo conclion.

    "Wih he aailabili of dinking ae in illage, omen do no needo ca hea load fo long diance; " -- Pehap in place in India,b hee ae hge aea of poe icken b-Sahaan Afica inhich omen ill pend on of man ho alking fo ae.

    The aicle foce on making he cae ha e'e come p fo healhemedie and bee pplemen ha impoe he condiion of hepoo, b he poo ae impl oo ho ighed o ake adanage ofhem. The implicaion being: Yo'e aing o mone. Wha aeible one he'e aken hee. Wh no poin o he hge gainmade in impoing healh b, fo inance, he Gae fondaion and

    he poiie effec i' had?

    Fhemoe, hi emphai on ho "iaional" he poo ae i inimila bad ae. I' had o ge ich Weene o ea igh obehae aionall, b hee' no paallel dan. In hi aicle, hee'onl geneo Weene being milead ino giing iaional poopeople, no lighl inefficien hman ih lo of mone giing olighl inefficien hman ih almo no mone. No he inen of heaicle? Wie i bee.

    And ha olion ae peened? Ohe han ome implicaionabo bee healh (and no paie fo NGO' doing ok o impoehelp in deeloping conie) hee' nohing b an implicaion ha ifaid doen' ok onl he "iniible hand of he make" can ole heioe (iho menion of he ecen mico-finance opion coppingp).

    Ye he implemenaion of hi opic fee make in' menioned,inead he pend ime he poin o ho iaional i i o b a TVahe han geing aniaion and clean dinking ae in a home. Bbing a T.V. i omehing ha a ingle peon can apie o.Ameican ofen b epenie T.V. inead of ping mone aafo hei kid' college in he ame manne. Ping in a eageem o a clean ae em ake kno-ho and eoce hapeople aen' clamoing o ell hem. (Which, again, old be a geaplace o poin o he loel ok chai : ae i doing...)

    MITHUNJJ

    1:59 AM ET

    Apil 27, 2011

    Sad b re

    The oo poblem lie ih he a he Poe eliminaion chemeae dipeed. The cheme ae ofen choked ih high-end copioncam.

    Toono Web Deelopmen

    TOWNLEY89

    6:10 AM ET

    Apil 27, 2011

    Man canno lie on bread alone

    So mabe he fac ha he hae a TV doen' mean he'e nohng. The ale a TV moe becae i make aing aliebeaable, a oppoed o impl "poible." Thee ae diffeen leel ofhnge, and j becae omeone ha a lile chicken in hei boldoen' mean he Wold Food Pogam hold pop he champagne

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    an pac p op.

    ASHTONKAYE

    8:55 AM ET

    Apil 27, 2011

    So Sad How Different We live

    Een he poo in he e hold be gaefl. I` fnn ho in heeen old (epeciall he US and Canada) he pooe of opoplaion ae all he fae, becae of all he idel aailablecheap poable jnk food aailable. Ye 1/6h of he old poplaionon een go o bed onigh ih a bol of imple ice and ae hich

    old co a facion of a penn oe hee.

    Chai and and fndaiing aaene een like he 30 ho faminehelp o a ceain een, hoee i' going abo he poblem in aong a. Yo impl can' ho mone a a poblem like hi.Thee ha o be effecie meae in place ihin ee goenmeno ene ha none of hei ciien goe hng.

    LUA_WILKINSON

    10:17 AM ET

    Apil 27, 2011

    More than one billion people actuall MAY BE hungr in

    the world

    The elaionhip beeen food, eaing, and poe i incediblcomple and one ha canno be edced o "chooing beeen aeleiion e and a healh dinne". We o ofen n he "igh foodchoice" ino a moal one, epeciall among he poo. I i j fine foa ealh peon o chooe feel ha he pchae, b poopeople ae jdged b he cienific and NGO commni fo pingeneainmen need aboe hnge.

    Food "choice" i ofen defined moe b he goenmen e lie nde,adiional o eligio belief e ma bcibe o, eoce e haeacce o, echnologie ha ae aailable o ; gende, ocial cla,ehnici, naionali, affodabili, een global ppl paen. We faoo ofen hink of "food choice" a being indiidall baed ahehan h pon b oad foce. Thi i h o man pblichealh campaign hae failed mieabl; he foc on "food choice","lifele change", and "conmpion" a a fi-all fo niionpoblem (inclding deficiencie, obei AND hnge).

    Food choice hold no be edced o moal jdgmen call; inead,pblic healh, hnge and niion hold be haped b ondniion polic ha deal ih all ie onding hnge, incldingconol of food ppl, miconien foificaion pogam, economicdeelopmen AND food enjomen.

    Food enjomen holdn' be a l iem, and hnge alleiaionhold no cene aond conmpion; ahe on niion polic,economic deelopmen and food ppl.

    .NiionandDeelopmeninChina.com

    MATLUD

    10:28 AM ET

    Apil 27, 2011

    Read and respond to the article on its own terms

    I'd like o elcome hi aicle and ok ha ndepin i.Whaee he polic choice, i i bee o make ha deciionon he bai of he flle infomaion poible. I old a hahe aho ae cepical of a niion-baed poe ap, bno ohe fom of poe ap. Alo, hee ee plen ofeample gien hee a big aid ph of ome o oldappea o be he onl iable olion cenl aailable.

    I'd alo commend he aicle' le, in paicla he efeenceo Oell and he implicaion ha he global poo ae no'ohe' b, in fac, ae e imila o oele.

    I made me hink of an analog fom poliical cience and henoion of 'deian oe' - I'm fom he UK hee i i elaed ohe Coneaie-oing oking cla. I eem he global poo

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    ).

    THE GLOBALIZER

    5:09 PM ET

    A 27, 2011

    Agree

    T , - ' .

    I' , . I ' ( ), , "Y , I' TV " .

    DR. SARDONICUS

    8:35 PM ET

    A 27, 2011

    Our Boob Tube is not necessaril theirs

    O , U.S.A, B T. I NS ; S C . D

    . A D R C , "I H" N A S . T .A TV , , , , . B 24/7.F E "." I , . L , A TV .

    S A ( ) TV . H PB O S, TV / . O H.

    N , TV . T , , , .C , , , A .

    F , , TV , , . T . H .

    S TV , . T

    , , .

    G , , , A TV !

    ANHALT-ZERBST

    10:21 PM ET

    A 27, 2011

    Cloaca. Singular. Sneer

    C. S. S , D. S.

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    FRED_J9

    8:39 PM ET

    April 27, 2011

    clap our hands up !

    since when does the usa manage to reveal this s tats, since, irak war? how many billion have they wast on wars ?? aren't they billions ? -but, i knew one thing is that israel is taken over usa !!

    marocmeknes

    RAGHUVANSH1

    6:08 AM ET

    April 28, 2011

    Most povert is pschlogical

    Most poor people are ignorant so they remain poor.In India poverty ispsych logical.. Only education can erase the poverty of India.Religionis governing very forcefully on Indian people. They are tremendouslyafraid to break the religious rituals, spend thousand of rupees onreligious ceremonials and afraid if they disobey the rule of religionBreak this kind of dogma only education is useful.Government of Indianeglecting primary education from last s ixty year.Only Keral state ofIndia doing well because 99p.c. literacy is there

    ASUNNER

    11:21 AM ET

    April 28, 2011

    Information is Consistent

    I believe that this article supports basic human nature. Immediategratification, such as better tast ing food, TV. cell phones or DVDplayers, is far more important than future gratification, which you maynot even be able to see or believe will occur. There is hunger in thisworld, real hunger, of that I am certain. But what this article and studysupport is that we want not just to live, but to have enjoyment out oflife. And the cost, whether it be a lack of nutrition to the possible lossof life (through crime or drugs) is a future, uncertain cost, many timesunknown or not able to be quantified. We all seek ways to make ourpersonal lives of value to ourself - rational or irrational as it may be tothose around us.

    FSILBER

    1:27 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    Man rich people suffer from hunger

    Why do articles about hunger always ignore the problems faced bymiddle-class and even rich people? Many people just cannot seem tolose weight without frequently suffering hunger, and being able toafford yet more food is no help to them.

    AVOROBIEV

    3:22 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    And hunger for status?

    Or, could it also be that the poor buy better-tasting food because of itsstatus-raising properties? Even in the eyes of his children, andinfinitely more in the eyes of his friends and neighbors, a delicacy-eating man grows taller That was the idea when I was growing up -and I was not growing up in poverty. Our inherent status anxiety (seethe book or youtube/PBS documentary by the same title) seems farmore ubiquitous than hunger.

    Which sort of brings us back to the Amartya Sens argument badgovernance, which results in higher inequality, both real andperceived, and hence elevated status anxiety

    I wish the authors gave us a few good suggestions on how they thinkthe world poverty can be alleviated. But they challenged us enough tolook at poverty and hunger from a different angle. Id like to thank themfor that.

    Andrei Vorobiev

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    orrup on anagemen .com

    DR. SARDONICUS

    7:44 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    Potato, Potahtoes

    Cloaca = 1 TV channel (say, C-Span, brought to you by Heritage,Cato and the KKK on one of its good days).

    Cloacae = TV in general (brought to you by WAR, Inc., the onlygrowth industry left. Better living through dead brown bodies, dead

    brown vegetation, dead brown waterways. Go Oil/Coal/Nukes! Now,Gertrude, lets go pick the next war-of-the-week off the World Mapdartboard!) A network of interdependent sewage channels. Anintellectual cloacae.

    Im too busy herding sleepwalkers out of a burning house (and doingso in my spare time, before my next five oclock wakeup and twelvehour workday) to sneer. Maybe youve got the spare time to do so for(and at) me?

    Subversive Un-Americanism #16:The trivial (< is less important than) the significant

    But thanks for playing, anyway.

    CYBERMUM101

    9:43 PM ET

    April 28, 2011

    So Man People Are Hungr - But We Waste So Much

    Food

    With so many people hungry why do we continue to waste so muchfood, when was the last time you cleaned your fridge or cupboards ofout dated products, threw away your take away food that the kids didnot finish. Supermarkets, local bread shops and so make other places

    just throw it all away. We have to stand up for all the food waste thatwe contribute to the world, there is enough food for all, but withoutcash you become the the person that's hungry. Next t ime you seesomeone begging give them a dollar, you will probably only waste iton something you are just going to throw away anyway.

    cybermum101

    informativeblogger.com

    SHOXII

    8:57 AM ET

    April 29, 2011

    A Disaster that People hungr!

    It really is a disaster that so many people around the world arehungry.But it can be slightly modified.If everyone would save food all could benefit from it.All countries which had enough food could help poorer countries withfood.Private Krankenversicherung VergleichIt only works if everyone helps everyone!!!

    DR. SARDONICUS

    9:25 AM ET

    April 29, 2011

    Wh aren't more people sneering?

    TV: the greatest mass-education tool ever devised by mankind,reduced to pimping for commercial trivia and/or military/empirialaggression.

    Sneer, I dare ya.

    METABOLIC

    Drinking coffee and

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    A 29, 2011 D ( ) . P B P . A .

    MENCTI

    2:04 PM ET

    A 29, 2011

    conscience

    W ' ...

    MDELL27

    12:58 AM ET

    M 8, 2011

    TV lowers the amount of calories needed

    T . T . T .

    I ' , , . N .

    C , ,

    .

    RUNPTNOW

    6:30 PM ET

    M 8, 2011

    On the poor and starvation

    W ' T W C - ?

    ALEXANDER JAMES

    9:50 PM ET

    M 8, 2011

    People Bu What the want

    I 1 . I R C A I . H 3 . T .

    P . T .

    KHIR

    4:27 AM ET

    M 12, 2011

    Educate them

    A .

    , . S ? T .

    SMYTH OSBORN

    10:39 AM ET

    M 15, 2011

    How sad it is....

    H 1 , I 1 . T

    .

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    On the other hand, I would argue that "poor countries are poorbecause they are hot, infertile, malaria-infested, and oftenlandlocked". In my own opinion that is unacceptable, I believe thateach country has it's own wealth, and I believe that the the onlysolution to one's problem is education, and when I say education, Imean continues education.

    CHANGXIA2

    6:21 PM ETMay 21, 2011

    Edcae

    Argue that poor countires will lead to more deaths? Wrong, if morepeople are educated more people will survive. Even though people aredieing due to lack of food. Why not create more schools and teach.

    karmaloop

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