food prices: wake up to the problem and the cause

Food and gas prices have gone up astronomically in the last year or so. In the USA, Europe and other wealthy regions of the world, we deal with the blow by tightening our belts or shopping at Sam's Club instead of Whole Foods or using public transportation more often or modifying vacation plans. Sure, it affects us but not on any devastating level. It is, therefore, very difficult for us to understand the profound impact these high prices have had on developing nations all over the world.

We need to wake up to this crisis and we need to treat it like the priority it is.

Like or not, we are now a global community and when an Iowan farmer shifts production it isn't only his immediate community or market that feels the affects. Yesterday, Paul Krugman wrote in a NYT op-ed "You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states." His column lays out in glaring detail how interconnected our world is on every level now - finance, energy, agriculture, even weather. Its worth the read.

Here are the basic facts:

• trade policies set by leading economies directly affect prices of essential items in poor countries
• economic success and development in China and other rapidly growing economies drives up cost of grains and energy globally (see Krugman's piece)
• droughts and crop blights in Australia and other countries that are leading producers of the world's grain contribute to rising costs
• biofuels are a disastrous miscalculation, driving food prices up and promoting deforestation in regions that cannot afford more slash-burn stripping

Some of these things are in our power to change, some aren't. Acknowledging that maybe its better to use oil and continue searching for more, less expensive energy options might mean we have to stomach certain immediate realities we don't like (CO2 emissions, oil-dependency - take your pick) but isn't it a far greater crime for the Haitian poor to eat mud cakes because a bag of rice is far beyond their means? The recent civil unrest there speaks to the gravity of the situation. Something has to change.

The economy of the world is in flux and we have concerns about our portfolios, a Middle-East dominated oil production, the falling dollar, and global warming. But what is a global community without people? Shouldn't these concerns fall to the wayside in light of starving millions?

Our community, our neighbors and trade partners and friends and - for some of us - our families are suffering. We need to wake up to the food crisis. Something has to change.

NEWS ~ Avian Bird Flu in Haiti?

When countries like Haiti make the excruciatingly slow climb out of poverty and corruption, an apparently minor hitch could have disastrous implications on that plodding progress. Today, the Sun Sentinel ran an op-ed on the potentially devastating impact of Avian Flu, now making the rounds in the Caribbean, on Haiti.

While Puerto Rico, a U.S. protectorate, can probably easily weather any disruption in trade between itself and Dominican Republic, Caribbean countries - like Haiti - without the safety net of the U.S. economy, will suffer. The Sentinel writes, "egg prices in Port-au-Prince jumped 25 percent to more than $3 a carton, according to news reports." Little fluxes like these, with high gasoline prices effecting costs too, present terrible difficulties to the majority of Haitians, whose meager incomes place them well below the poverty line.

Though the strain found in the DR is less virulent than that recently found in Asia, the Sun Sentinel's editorial board rightly points out that

Haiti can't bear this now — not while making slow, but what appears to be steady progress under President René Préval. The country imports at least 1 million eggs and hundreds of thousands of chickens from the Dominican Republic daily, according to the country's agriculture minister. A bird flu epidemic and food shortage would further stress a population whose health is already compromised. It could also wipe out a means of livelihood for merchants who sell poultry products.

Some might remember the last animal-related food disaster to impact Haiti: the slaughter of the Creole Pigs. When the African Swine Fever virus spread to Haiti from the Dominican Republic, the U.S. government put enormous pressure on the Haitian government to slaughter all their pigs - offering a seemingly excellent eradication and re-population plan. Thus, Creole Pigs were slaughtered and U.S. shipped in pigs from the Midwest. But the American swine were higher maintenance, requiring imported feed, clean water and falling ill more often. The program failed disastrously and had lasting and continuing impacts on poor farmer.

I would like to under second the Sun Sentinels recommendation that: "The United Nations, USAID and other humanitarian organizations must do everything in their power to help address the problem before the situation worsens."

more on living

When the shit hits the fan, make sure you have these two guys at your back. Last night was a full moon. Below is the view from the Bay Klub where we dined and where we'll have our shrimp feast on Saturday. The moon makes seeing at night incredibly easy so last night we sat up on the roof and admired the land scape at the farm. The roof is the coolest place around and there are very few bugs. If only we had a tent... we could rest very easy on the warm summer nights....Below is a picture of me, Eddie and Andy. Andy's leaving to go work as a UN volunteer in East Timor. Everyone thinks he should stay. He will be missed and I'll have some large shoes to fill in taking over some of the programs he has been running. Perhaps he should listen to what the voices say and rest longer en Haïti.
And today Charlotte and I walked to the open market in Les Cayes with Johnny. Johnny acted as guide, escort and insurance that we wouldn't get over charged. We bought a bunch of banannas, 2 large papaya, and 6 oranges for 150 gourdes. That's about $4 American. Not too bad for first timers, I'd say.

gettin' around and hangin' around

This is my friend Charlotte. Getting from one place to another in Haiti means catching a "lib" (pronounced LEEB) with whoever you know whenever you can. Here, we were on our way to town. It's a fifteen minute drive down a rocky road and then a nice paved road, courtesy the Taiwanese government.

Since I'm here, I figured I should learn to drive every kind of vehicle available. After about an hour of practicing, I mastered the motorcycle. Motorcross Haiti 2007 here I come!On Saturday we're going to have a party at the Bay Klub with grilled and steamed shrimp. We met the owners last night. They're both guys who studied in the states and know everyone. They're good guys to know.

The Heartland

This last week entailed travels to the Heartland, the rolling hills of southern Kansas, the strip malls and NASCAR tracks that spring up in wide open, gray fields, the IHOPs, the beer joints, the home of the Bengals and the friendly homes of the Midwest. A visit to Middle America from the East Coast is easy to arrange and inexpensive but as much an eye-opening experience as any overseas travel. A few days around here reveals how city Coasters, East and West, have a very limited idea of how their fellow Americans live.

On Friday, my former nanny, her mother and two of her best friends and I went out to a new outdoor shopping mall between her home in Olathe and Kansas City. Legends has just about every store you can imagine plus restaurants and hotels to crash in before another day of hard-core shopping. Next to Legends sits Cabela's -- the world's foremost outfitter, the Yard House where one can order hundreds of draft beers by the half yard, and other assorted delightful establishments. Since our plan was to have a martini, hit two stores, have some more martinis and appetizers, hit two more stores and so forth, we already knew we'd be crashing at the Holiday Inn Express on site. During the course of the evening, items were purchased, mechanical bulls were ridden and fallen from, half-yards were consumed, and creamy, buttery, fattening dishes were consumed voraciously.

The next day I'd really wanted to head over to the Kansas Speedway where beer can be purchased by the 6-pack but was told I'd have to return in September for the NASCAR race. Instead we went to Cabela's. After making our way through the crowd standing around the local country station's mobile outpost and the neon orange sale items, we finally entered outfitting paradise. It was a sensory overload: a REAL fishing pond in the back, a huge aquarium, a game room filled with large stuffed game from all over the world, a shooting range and sprawling floors of hunting, hiking and outdoor gear. Awesome. Besides the Jockey outlet, it was the only place I dropped bones over the weekend.

Sunday - a family day - I hung with my former nanny's lovely and spirited children. We watched the little girl perform a Charlie Brown's Christmas. After biscuits and gravy and barbecue sandwich a little later on, I headed for the airport and jetted off to my next Midwestern stop: Cincinnati.

This three-day stay has been a little different than the Kansas visit. Sitting here in my older brother's living room, I find myself content watching TLC and playing with my 2.5 week-old niece. The surroundings are more familiar since, when my brother and sister-in-law announced they'd be buying a new home together, my parents donated some of our older furniture. It's amazing to see the transformation that maturity and family worked on the dorky, blue-velvet-shoe sporting, eye-liner applying, grumpy teen I knew growing up. His home is wonderfully homey and his family (of all girls) is beautiful.

After walking their athletic golden retriever puppy, my brother and I went out to the local dive to watch the Bengals get their butts kicked. We sat together and shared some imported British lagers and then switched to bottles of good American light beer. Surrounded by adults (of all ages) sporting bright orange and black jerseys emblazoned with their favorite players' names, we chatted about life -- a conversation that probably deteriorated over the hours but became no less enjoyable.

Tomorrow night I'm back to the East Coast to stay for just over a week. I have a lot left to accomplish in the time before I fly out and Christmas will be a (welcome) distraction. My vague efforts at fundraising continues -- check out my status on portiamills.com.