Food, Famine and the Scourge of Waste

           Today in the UK, 7 million slices of bread, 2.8 million tomatoes and 660,000 eggs will be thrown in the garbage. Most will be perfectly good and entirely edible.

The same amount will be thrown out tomorrow and the next day. As it was yesterday and the day before. In fact, these items make up just a small portion of the food that is wasted every single day in the UK.

Put together, more than $16 billion (US) a year is literally being thrown in the trash.

Such is the cruel irony of our age. As governments in the developed world face massive deficits and people in poor countries struggle to feed themselves, we are discarding expensive food on a mammoth scale.

Few of us give a second thought to the leftovers on our plate, the apple that just doesn’t look right, or the bread crusts we don’t like. But the problem of food waste is epidemic and the implications are severe.  

Of course, the UK is not the only offender, nor is it the worst.  Depending on who you believe, the United States throws out between 30 and 50 per cent of its food, totaling some $100 billion a year.

Compare that to the developing world, where food scarcity is common and Somalia is still being ravaged by famine. More than 1 billion people suffer from malnutrition and a child dies of hunger every six seconds.

So why the disparity? How can it be that so few waste so much, while the rest starve?

The biggest culprit is the culture of abundance so pervasive in many Western countries. We simply produce too much, far more than we need, and feel entitled to doing just that. Somehow, overproduction and overconsumption have become symbols of a free and democratic society.

And when we have too much, we simply throw it out. It doesn’t seem to matter, since there’s always more at the grocery store. Rows and rows of cheap packaged goods means we never have to worry about where our next meal will come from. 

Food, after all, is just another commodity. It’s long lost its true value. The days where your grandmother told you not to waste food because you’re lucky to have it are long gone.

But not all the news is bad. In pockets around the world, movements toward smarter shopping are gaining traction as people commit themselves to a responsible lifestyle.

More and more consumers are logging on to websites like www.wastedfood.com to find tips on food preservation—everything from advice on storing what you buy to recipes for your leftovers.

And for the food we do throw out, Sweden is leading the charge to turn organic waste into fuel. The country already has 7,000 cars and 800 buses that run on biogas.  In 2005, it even unveiled the world’s first biogas commuter train.

There’s still a lot of work to do, but these are important first steps. In the end, the way we view what we eat will only change once we realize just what it means to throw food away and what we are really losing when we do. 

There’s certainly nothing wasteful about that.

How We're Subsidizing Somalia's Famine

          The images are haunting: entire malnourished families pour into makeshift camps, on the verge of starvation, desperate to avoid the famine that has spread in parts of Somalia.

          The UN says that the worst drought in 60 years has killed tens of thousands of people and threatens millions more. More than half of Somalia’s children are now in dire need of food.

          Predictably, the images have led to a flurry of donations and promises of goodwill from developed countries like the United States and those in Europe. We’re here for you in your time of crisis, they say.

          But they’re missing the point.

          While donations certainly do help relief efforts, they do not address long-term causes. If global powers are serious about tackling famine for good, they must start by helping farmers in the developing world succeed.

          Yet the fact remains that wealthy countries continue to cut poor farmers off at the knees, leaving them unable to feed their own countries and making them more vulnerable to crisis—like drought. 

          They do this by subsidizing rich Western farming conglomerates to the staggering tune of $300 billion every year. Those conglomerates use that money to produce much more than they need, which is then dumped into global markets at artificially low prices.

          When those subsidized goods land in developing countries, they undercut local prices. That makes it impossible for local farmers to compete, so they go out of business.

          According to former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, lavish Western farm subsidies and the unlevel playing field they create cost developing countries a staggering $100 billion a year in lost income.

          Farming is a key sector in many developing countries, including Somalia, so the growth of sustainable agricultural infrastructure is essential. When farmers fail, entire economies do.

          Yet the subsidies continue. In Japan, for example, farmers receive roughly $7 a day from the government for each of their cows. Cattle are treated to imported food, cold beer, soothing music and even massages.

          Ironically, and sadly, that’s far better treatment than most Somali people will ever get.  It doesn’t seem to matter in Washington though, or in European capitals, where the farming lobby is big business.

          In 2006 alone, U.S. agribusiness lobbyists spent more than $90 million pushing for subsidies and other perks. Half that money went directly to Congressional candidates and party committees during that year’s mid-term elections.

          Two years later—when Congress introduced the farm bill that’s still in place today—no one was surprised to see it full of subsidies. Then-President George W. Bush even vetoed the bill, saying it was too “bloated” with handouts. But he was promptly overridden by rather keen members of Congress. 

          Back in Somalia and across the developing world, where farmers struggle just to stay afloat, people are starving. Even before the current famine, a child died of hunger every six seconds. 

          Of course, that’s not to say we are solely to blame for Somalia’s famine. Climate change, rampant political instability and poverty have all played a role. But we have not been bystanders either.

          Clearly something needs to change.

          Until developing agricultural industries are allowed to compete in their own markets, instead of being drowned out by subsidized foreign imports, farmers and the economies they support will remain weak, unstable and dependent on others. 

          But for that to happen, we must first stop treating food as just another political commodity to profit from and begin seeing it for what it really is—a necessity of life and a human right.

          Because when it comes to growing enough food to feed ourselves, there should be no winners and losers.

Women in China Face Suicide Epidemic

Things began to go wrong when she was forced to marry a man she did not love.

Then only 20, Zhang Xiaoyun had to leave her family and friends to live with her in-laws. She didn’t know or particularly care for her new husband, so it was only a matter of time before feelings of helplessness and resentment grew.

What’s more, as a woman living in rural China, Zhang had no status in her community. She was a second-class citizen, expected to cook and clean for her husband. There was no place for independence or even a personality of her own.

So Zhang did the only thing she could think of to escape – she tried to commit suicide.

Zhang survived, but many like her do not. China is the only country in the world where more women kill themselves than men. Every year a staggering one million women there attempt to take their own lives. Upwards of 150,000 are successful.  That’s one suicide every four minutes.

Most occur in rural areas, where women struggle with poverty, abuse and rigidly patriarchal traditions that see females as worthless and subservient.  Without any social support system or rights of their own, these women suffer in silence.

Family disputes and economic pressures are often the main factors in suicide. And an alarmingly high number of women are pushed over the edge by seemingly minor quarrels with their husbands or in-laws – everything from a fight over mahjong to a disagreement about what to watch on television.

That’s because suicide doesn’t have the same taboo around it that you’d find in Western countries. In some parts of rural China, drinking pesticide is an almost normalized way of dealing with pent-up frustration.

It’s an impulsive act of desperation – a cry for help – from wives with nowhere else to turn.

These women don’t necessarily want to die, but they are alone and lack a sense of self-worth, so few think of the consequences. It’s hard, after all, to understand the value of your own life when no one else considers you valuable.

Many marriages in rural China are still arranged, while other brides are simply sold off. Both practices are illegal, but these customs are hard to break. And once a woman is married, gaining the acceptance of in-laws is a tall order in the face of high expectations and little respect.

Few of these women will ever benefit from the development and prosperity springing up in other parts of the country. On average, a rural woman who attempts suicide has just five years of schooling and a median per capita income of $13 a month. 

For these women, suicide is a way to escape from China’s suffocating shadows of discrimination and anonymity.

Though one organization is trying to change this. The Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women is an NGO that promotes social development for females in rural areas.

It offers literacy classes, skills training and mentorship, all in the name of giving rural women the sense of empowerment they need.

“They don’t have self-confidence and feel their lives are meaningless,” Chen Shanshan of the Beijing Center said in an e-mail interview. “We try to help them recognize themselves and realize their potential.”

There’s even a suicide prevention program that tours the countryside showing women the value of life and teaching communities about gender equality and inclusion.

So far the center has helped some 5,000 people, including a much happier Zhang Xiaoyun, who is no longer suicidal.

But there remains a lot of work to do. The first step is to bring the plight of these women into the open. Too many of them are suffering in silence as China continues to modernize at an unprecedented rate.

Gross national product and international trade may be ways for a country to determine its economic wealth, but true well-being can only be measured by the quality of life of its citizens.

Until this well-being is taken seriously, and until China tackles gender

discrimination, alienation and inequality, the nation’s development will remain woefully incomplete.

No country should be able to call itself “developed” when a million of its citizens every year find suicide is their only option. 

Attacks on Women a Black Eye for India

Dipti Udapure was considered an ideal wife. She was well-behaved and obedient, two important female traits in patriarchal India.  As the daughter of a police officer, she was even allowed to get an education – a right still not given to many women in conservative parts of the country.

So when Dipti married a distant relative and settled in the city of Nagpur, she seemed destined for a happy life.

That soon changed though. Her in-laws began demanding she buy them a car, saying it was part of her dowry. Dipti had already paid her customary dowry as part of the wedding, but suddenly that was not enough.

She could not afford to buy a car so her in-laws harassed her repeatedly, insisting she pay them for the privilege of marrying their son.  Her husband had become an alcoholic so he was of little help, and she didn’t dare speak out against her in-laws to anyone else.

The demands became so intense and hurtful that Dipti could not stand them anymore. So she walked up the stairs to the fourth floor of her apartment and jumped to her death. She left behind a nine-month-old daughter.

The circumstances of Dipti’s death are tragic yet surprisingly common in India.  They are called dowry deaths and occur when the husband or in-laws of a newly married bride demand money or gifts in addition to the traditional dowry they receive. These demands can be so frequent and vicious that they drive the bride to suicide.

Other times, husbands and in-laws may go as far as murdering brides who do not comply.

According to India’s National Crime Bureau, there were more than 7600 dowry deaths in 2006 alone. That’s one every 77 minutes.

In the most extreme cases, women are doused with kerosene and set on fire in an attempt to make their death look like a kitchen accident. This gruesome tactic even has its own name: bride burning.

Yet as horrible as this may seem, far too many women in India are still second-class citizens with few rights, so there is little recourse for victims. Even though dowries have been illegal since 1961, barely a third of these deaths result in police action because authorities often turn a blind eye.

Brides often have no one to turn to when such demands begin. Once married, many are beholden to the will of their in-laws. And with few economic opportunities of their own in the country’s large rural and conservative areas, women are forced to become subservient. If they speak out, it will mean their financial and social ruin.

Dowry deaths have become so rampant that some community leaders are now calling for an end to lavish weddings, which they say encourage dowries.

The government has tried to curb these deaths as well by including “economic harassment” in the definition of domestic violence and by offering to protect brides who report their husbands and in-laws for demanding a dowry.

But these brutal incidences still occur every day. Regardless of what the law says, as long as women are seen as inferior, and as long as speaking out against these demands remains taboo, dowry deaths will continue.

So as we once again mark International Women’s Day, we must remember that the world has a long way to go before it can make any claim to gender equality.  If the situation is going to change, the world must shed a light on such injustice and demand better.

The terrible reality is that India is not alone. As a global society we’ve never been more advanced and well-off than we are today, yet women in many countries still fall prey to systemic exploitation, discrimination, rape and even murder.

In fact, the UN says that one out of every three women around the globe has been abused, usually by someone she knows.

In a world where human rights, justice and equality have long been championed as cornerstones of humanity, this single statistic represents one of our greatest failures.

Back in India, it may be too late for Dipti Udapure, but her daughter is still just a toddler. She can grow up like her mother only to be seen as the property of another person, or she can grow up to find the opportunities she needs to make the most of her life.

It is up to all of us to decide.  

Reflections on a Revolution

        It’s difficult to grasp the magnitude of what has happened in Tahrir Square and across Egypt over the past 18 days. The images of struggle and celebration were breathtaking. Yet attempts to analyze these events through political theory, or to attribute them to the power of social media, are woefully inadequate.

        Just what was it that caused millions of ordinary people to rise up in extraordinary acts of defiance that would normally get them killed? Or that inspired countless Egyptians to joyously declare today the best day of their life? What was it that brought professionally composed Egyptian journalists and academics to tears on live television?

        It was the triumph of the human spirit - the determination to live your life with basic dignity and freedom. Such yearnings are fundamental enough that they exist deep within the human soul, yet are elusive enough that they drive people to unimaginable feats of strength and courage.

        For the lucky few of us who are given this right at birth, it’s easy to take for granted. But what if you aren’t? What if an act as simple as saying what you feel could land you under the boots of police torturers? Or if you are forced into a state of stifling poverty because your government insists on stealing from you?

        Under those circumstances, dignity and freedom become impossible. Such was life in Egypt.

        Today Egyptians (like others before them) have broken free from the shackles of that oppression. They have stood up in unison, cast aside the darkness of fear and demanded to be heard. In doing so, victory became inevitable. A determined spirit, acting in the name of what is right, cannot be defeated.

        It was poignant and touching to see jubilant Egyptians in Tahrir Square proclaiming that, finally, they can live like human beings. This was no Facebook revolution. It was not a coup or a result of American influence. Hosni Mubarak is gone because the people yearned to be free from decades of suffocation. Young and old. Rich and poor. Muslim and Christian. Through admirable perseverance and inspirational non-violence, they have won their dignity back.

        There will be time to debate what happens next and to consider the ramifications of this revolution. But for today, Egyptians – and indeed the world – celebrate a new beginning and endless possibilities for 80 million people. They have rewritten history.

        Martin Luther King once said there is something in the soul that cries out for freedom. After decades of waiting and hoping, every Egyptian soul is now free.    

Dawn on Egypt's "Mount of God"

         The first sign that there was something wrong came when our driver began muttering to himself in Arabic.

          Then, without warning, he pulled off the road and gestured for us to get out – our minibus had broken down. It was in the middle of the night, and we were in the middle of the desert. 

          We had stopped next to an Egyptian military checkpoint. Our driver explained the situation to a soldier, who told us to wait with them until our new minibus arrived.

          There we were – 13 foreign adventure seekers, half a dozen Egyptian soldiers, and a driver who didn't speak a word of English – alone together in the middle of nowhere. 

          But what could have been an unnerving situation turned almost comical when the soldiers, certainly not known for their hospitality, began laying chairs out for us in the sand. It was the first time I had been offered a seat by someone with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder.

          Luckily, after half an hour of writing my name in the sand, our new minibus arrived and we continued on to our destination – Mt. Sinai.

          For adventure seekers, history buffs, and religious pilgrims alike, there are few better destinations in Egypt than Mt. Sinai. The mountain is revered as the spot where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, and climbing it is a profound experience for anyone willing to go a little off the beaten track.

          The best place to stay is in the nearby town of Dahab, which stretches along the beach on the Gulf of Aqaba. It is full of small hotels and beachside restaurants which constantly play Bob Marley – it is the Sharm el-Sheikh for budget travelers.

          But I wasn't there to relax. I made arrangements with a local travel agency to be picked up from my hotel at 11pm. My plan was to climb the mountain in the middle of the night to watch the sunrise from the top. When our replacement minibus finally arrived at the base of Mt. Sinai at nearly 2:30am, we were not greeted by the serenity of the desert or the harsh beauty of nature, but rather by at least 20 giant coach buses. Apparently, my small group wasn't the only one interested in seeing the sunrise. 

          I began my ascent. The trek was not very treacherous because most people followed the wide camel path. But what made things difficult were the hundreds of other climbers of all ages, shapes and sizes, as well as the countless Bedouin touts offering camel rides at "great prices." Determined not have the crowds ruin my experience, I blocked out everything I could and focused on nothing but the mountain. 

          The rocky path zigzagged its way up into darkness. The only sounds to be heard were the gentle murmurs of fellow climbers, and the rhythmic sound of footsteps. I walked as fast as I could. After nearly an hour, I stopped and turned to see the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. Tearing through the darkness below was a narrow line of hundreds of tiny white lights bouncing up and down – the flashlights of people behind me. They mirrored the stars above, which at this point blanketed the sky. 

          The rest of the climb seemed like an eternity. Every time I thought I had finished, I would turn a corner and see another peak. I began to think the path went on forever. Finally, just over two and a half hours after setting out, I reached the top – 7500 feet high. 

          It was still dark, and I staked out a spot on the edge. A group of nuns sat close to

me. The small surface area at the top quickly filled with climbers. We squeezed together as tightly as we could in the freezing cold. Then we waited.

          At 5:45am, a small yellow crescent peaked out over the horizon to the sound of awes (and cameras flashing). Within 10 minutes, the bright red sun triumphantly revealed itself to us – like a burning bush – as if it knew we were waiting. 

          The sky became a pinkish-yellow and the mountains a deep orange. For the first time we could see what we had been walking through. The jagged edges of Mt. Sinai were the centerpieces of a vast and incredible mountain range which towered over the desert below. We stood at the top of it all.

          After admiring the view for a while I decided to head down a different path, hoping to avoid the crowd. So I descended down the 3750 Steps of Repentance, carved out by a monk. They were as intimidating as they sounded, and I began to wonder just how many people have fallen and injured themselves on the narrow, slippery steps. There were far fewer people on this route, and about two-thirds the way down I noticed that a previous climber had carved his name in the mountain – signed DW and dated 1890. 

          In 3 hours I was back at the bottom, exhausted and with throbbing calf muscles. After a quick visit to the 4th century St. Katherine's Monastery, where the bush God used to talk to Moses is believed to be located, I met my tour group and we piled back into the minibus.            

          Back at the beach in Dahab, I pulled out my copy of the Old Testament and began to read, trying to fully appreciate where I had just been. Nature, history and religion meet on the top of Mt. Sinai. It is a uniquely awe-inspiring place, a definite highlight of Egypt.

          Though next time I'll spring for a better bus.

Are iPhones the Next Blood Diamonds?

            Around the impoverished villages near Lake Kivu in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), you can still see evidence of the boom. Makeshift mines dot the countryside there, constant reminders of a once desperate search for a metallic ore called coltan.  

            None of the coltan stayed in the country of course. It was funneled out onto the global market, where it is a key component in the production of computers, cell phones, video game consoles and a host of other electronics.

            All around the world, from offices in Tokyo to basements in Toronto, Congolese coltan can be found in the devices we use every day. Few know it’s there, even fewer know where it comes from.   

            But back in the DRC, coltan is murder.

            From 1998 to 2003, half a dozen African countries and more than 25 rebel groups fought bitterly for control of the country’s coltan mines. Known as Africa’s World War, the battle killed more than five million people.

            Villagers were kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to dig. Children were enslaved and women were raped by the thousands, all in the pursuit of coltan.

            Armies and rebels lucky enough to find some were greeted with open arms by Western companies looking to profit from the worldwide electronics industry.

There was, after all, money to be made. As the world eagerly awaited the 2000 release of Sony’s Playstation 2, for example, the price of coltan spiked from $44 a pound to $275 a pound.

            Those numbers suited the warring factions just fine because it meant more money for weapons and more incentive to control the mines. In 1999 alone, the Rwandan army—a central figure in the DRC’s war—made a staggering $250 million from coltan.

Playstation 2, meanwhile, went on to become the world’s best-selling game console.

At the height of war, the United Nations released a damning report linking our coltan consumption to the DRC’s plight. It detailed how armies and rebels fought and killed to supply our demand.

The report went even further, naming specific American and European mining companies that were either complacent in the killings or directly guilty of partnering with the rebels.

Nothing ever came of the allegations though, as alleged diplomatic pressure forced the UN to bury the report. Greed, it seemed, was excusable as long as it was profitable. The story of coltan was forgotten.

If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Coltan is just one in a long list of natural resources pillaged from developing countries for our own consumption. Western demand for diamonds, gold and oil have all left a trail of despair in their path.

            Little seems to have changed since the days of Africa’s World War—including our indifference to the plight of those who supply our goods.

            In the DRC, some 45,000 people still die every single month from hunger and disease. The price of coltan may have dropped to pre-war levels, but people there are still suffering.

            What’s worse is that it’s only a matter of time until the Congolese feel the wrath of our greed once again. When the next big technological innovation hits—perhaps a new iPhone or Nintendo Wii— and our coltan supply dwindles, the West will once again look to Africa, where most of the world’s coltan remains.   

            At the end of the Congolese war, just 15 per cent at the global population had a cell phone subscription. Today that number tops 60 per cent. Massive markets are opening up in China and India, where millions more people are buying record numbers of electronic goods.

            For those still reeling from the first coltan boom, this is a ticking time bomb.

            No one would ever suggest that we boycott electronic goods, nor is it fair to blame the average consumer for Africa’s plight. But without a strict regulatory system similar to the one that now targets blood diamonds, coltan will once again make war and death profitable.

            Beyond that, we need a shift in focus away from the shameful pursuit of profit that drove our companies to partner with bloodthirsty rebels. If the recent global recession taught us the economic consequences of greed, then coltan and the DRC should teach us the consequences on human life.

            Perhaps then, mass murder in Africa would spark the kind of outrage that faulty mortgages seemed to.

             

            

When is "Fair Trade" Really Fair Trade?

In grocery stores and shopping malls across the country, products of every kind are competing for your conscience.

            From coffee to fruit, clothing to flowers, companies now offer shoppers an array of socially conscious choices. Labeling their products “ethical” or “fair trade,” they hope to entice you with promises of environmentally responsible manufacturing and worker-friendly production.

            But how can you be sure these products are living up to their claims? With so many fair trade labels making so many promises, the selection can be daunting.

            In Canada, there are no national regulations to determine when a company can label its products fair trade. That means there is nothing to stop a company that pollutes the environment or uses child labour from calling itself ethical, just to make a sale.

            As a result, the market has become swamped, leaving well-meaning consumers to separate fair trade fact from fiction.

            “I feel bad for the average consumer,” says Gavin Fridell, author of Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market Driven Social Justice. “It’s hard to have a fair trade market when everything out there is claiming to be ethical.”

            There’s no doubt Canadians are a responsible bunch, but finding products where fair trade is more than just a marketing angle can be challenging. In 2006, more than 450 tonnes of fair trade-labeled coffee sold in Canada was not actually certified – meaning it’s impossible to know how ethical it actually was.

            The trick, Fridell says, is to look for products that are officially certified and labeled by independent fair trade organizations, like TransFair Canada.

            “If you want the gold standard of ethical certification, it’s the TransFair label,” he says.

            TransFair Canada has been certifying fair trade products since 1997. It’s part of an elaborate system of international organizations that monitor every step of a product’s life, from production to packaging, to ensure it complies with global fair trade standards.

            Products that bear TransFair’s distinctive black-and-white label (or the blue, black and green label of its international counterpart) must meet strict guidelines relating to environmental protection, workers’ rights and community development.

            “Fair trade seeks to change the terms of trade for the products we buy – to ensure the farmers and artisans behind those products get a better deal,” explains TransFair’s website.

            TransFair-labeled coffee, chocolate, wine and other products can be found in stores across the country. In fact, more than 240 companies are registered with Transfair – up from just 30 a decade ago.

            Another label to look for belongs to the World Fair Trade Organization, which certifies co-ops, retailers and others that are committed to ethical production. It adheres to “10 Standards of Fair Trade” and offers its multi-coloured label only to those that meet its standards.

            More than 320 organizations are registered with the World Fair Trade Organization, including the retailer Ten Thousand Villages, which has 50 stores in Canada.

            Of course, if a product or company doesn’t have one of these labels, that doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t fair trade. Official certification can be costly, making it difficult for some small businesses to obtain.

            The best advice is to do your research to ensure the products you buy meet your ethical standards. Definitions of fair trade vary, so be sure you are comfortable with what you are buying. Don’t be afraid to call a company and ask about its fair trade policy.

            If a company isn’t certified, it should have a good reason. And it should be very clear about exactly what its fair trade claims include and how they are verified. It is possible, after all, for a company to be environmentally friendly yet have poor labour standards.

            For Fridell, local, independently run retailers are often the best sources of fair trade products. “You get a much broader sense of the authenticity of what you are buying,” he says.

            So the next time you’re in the market for something fair trade, remember that not all ethical claims are misleading. There are plenty of products on store shelves that meet high standards of responsible production.

            You just have to know how to find them.