I know it's more complex than this, but I'm just saying....

We're about amidst another global food crisis and the root of it all, according to a few articles (though I realize this isn't the ONLY root - more amazed that it could even be considered the catalyst of such a disaster) is because weather didn't permit Iowa a healthy harvest.

First of all, (and I know the issue is way more complex than this, but sometimes the complexities permit hidden scandalous, profit-making maneuvers that go unseen or even can be justifiable due to manipulative policies) let's just think about this. Why is one state located a little over 1,000 miles away from Washington, DC, let alone the gazillions of miles from countries around the world, so drastically affecting our food supply?

Why, it is our dependence on massive agriculture and the World Bank's push for trade-dependent agriculture rather than local, or even national, agriculture. Our Future Planet posted an article on their website last Wednesday that addressed such issues that come with our ridiculous food systems. Because so many countries depend on export agriculture of cash crops, they then import their staple grains, such as wheat and corn and then are vulnerable to climatic catastrophes affecting other sides of the planet, such as Iowa not being able to grow their $9B worth of export. 

But there are nations who are working towards what some refer to as 'food democracy' and others refer to as 'food sovereignty.'  As stated by Our Future Planet, "The local organic farms with whom we have been spending time in the Phillipines and elsewhere are less affected by these price swings precisely because they consume much of what they harvest, and they sell the rest to local markets."  In that way, they are able to feed their communities and make a little money for themselves to put back into their farms. That is being food sovereign and as a nation so obsessed with democracy, why aren't we fighting for world Food Democracy? 

We obsess about using corn for energy. We need to be energy dependent hence the growing demand for corn and other commodity crops for biofuels, another factor playing into this global food disaster.  But it seems we are so obsessed with fuel, and quite content as a country with our food supply (speaking on the whole) that we forget the most important form of energy is food. There are no people without food. There is no one to care for our children, to run our industries, to do anything without food. Food should be the focus. It should be healthy and easy to access. For everyone.

We are one planet, functioning under one massive ecosystem on which we depend on.  Ecosystems are healthier and stronger when they have healthy, balanced micro-ecosystems.  Right now, the dominating food system tries to override that, and in turn the role of humans in that system, our system of survival, is in turmoil on a spiral towards starvation and suffering. 

So, if we mimicked our human systems on the ecosystem and lived within its means, as was done pre-agricultural-trade dependence, dependence in imported food staples would decrease. We wouldn't all rely on the corn crop from Iowa to keep the global food economy at somewhat of an equilibrium.  In turn, rates of starvation and malnutrition would decrease, not to mention our food systems' carbon footprint (which will be a topic at a later date, I'm sure), and our local economies would flourish (another topic to be delved into at a later time).