Is the glass half full or half empty? Despite criticisms, the recent meeting of the FAO in Rome reached various and important achievements, like the treatment of agriculture and food as principle themes in the international political agenda, next to energy and climate change, the author says. Secondly, more than 6,500 million dollars were raised in support of the cause.
- Why it is necessary to increase the worldwide supply of food and to give benefits to the poor
por Joaquín Mirkin - What Does the Increase of Food Prices Imply for the World?
por Ricardo Israel Zipper
With 4 million Puerto Ricans on the island, and another 4 million in the United States, Puerto Rico is experiencing an unusual situation that many wish to change. Supporters of statehood and those affiliated with the Commonwealth are beginning to see a new tendency, which, while not exactly pushing for independence, leans toward Washington.
In a country where the basic costs of food and transportation are growing rapidly while employment opportunities remain low, begging is on the rise and remittances sent from abroad often provide a quality of life otherwise unattainable. Is this fostering a culture of mendicancy? What are the human costs of such a phenomenon?
As companies are comprised of people, the focus of business should be on the human aspect, says the author. The company infrastructure, from the highest shareholder to the last employee, should develop, according to this conception, something more elevated and complete than a mere aim toward profit. To be truly ethical and balanced is the best business in our current global world. Find out why.
Despite the exceptional situation brought about in Argentina by the spectacular rise of food prices in the world market, the country finds itself more urgently submerged in the grave confrontation between the central government and the agricultural sector, without a visible exit in the near future. Argentina has buried itself in an unnecessary crisis, the author says, and meanwhile is losing a unique opportunity.
Argentina appears to be losing a historic opportunity with regards to the global demand for food in a conflict between the government and the agricultural sector that has already lasted three months. But what is truly needed is a political model that will function for the next decade, says the author.
The commotion has shaken relations between the Andean countries: accusations between Peru and Bolivia, disputes between Ecuador and Colombia, and the eventual agreement between Lima and the EU behind the backs of the Andean Community of Nations. Chavez, meanwhile, has remained silent. The reason is simple: the growing tension between those seeking to establish Free Trade Treaties with the world and improve its economy and those who reject this ideal, says the author.
A tacit and politically correct agreement between parties, media, and institutions in Italy previously prohibited the association of the word delinquent with any concrete nationality. This pact has been broken by the immigration policy of Silvio Berlusconi’s new government, the risk of which, the author says, lies in the use of simplified formulas of communication that center all public attention in fear of the others and the illusion that their expulsion will solve the problem.
Latin America paints a paradoxical picture. It is producing food for three times its actual population, yet 25 percent of new mothers suffer from malnutrition, 42-57 percent of child deaths are caused by it, and 16 percent of children suffer from it chronically.
