Enough is Enough

I am currently reading a book titled Enough by authors Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman, which deals with the issues of hunger in developing (undeveloping?) countries, particularly Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, among others. Human greed is portrayed in vivid detail while this book walks the reader through some of the reasons behind global hunger. We have traditionally blamed famine on the weather and corrupt African political leaders who have not taken care of their people. These may well be factors of hunger, but there are larger powers behind the deaths of millions of people. What is most absurd to me is that rich countries refuse to lend money (as of when the book was written) to countries offering subsidies for agriculture (a Red....RUN!!!!). In turn these rich countries offer HUGE subsidies to their own farmers, driving down prices and making it impossible for farmers in poor countries to even make a living farming. It got so bad in the early 2000s that farmers would lose money by planting their own seeds. The United States and other countries with huge farming operations need international food aid as a place to dump their grain.

I am obviously extremely limited in being able to summarize a book in one paragraph. I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in learning about hunger and the ways that it has been brought about due to economics.