Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Jonathan Meese: What is food? What is the world? What is a human being? What is food? What is repletion? We don't know anything. All these phenomena have nothing to do with each other, see [Zardoz announcement for harvest production of cereal]. All of these questions are more elementary than the links, which we don't know. The system is a spider's web. Who is the spider? Who is the victim? Who is the pupation? Nobody knows. Art is going to regulate it because art is a net in which no human being can stay. Human beings are not able to share and that's just fine. We just have to realize this than the division will take place on its own according to its own rules, just the way it should be. If we give food the possibility to distribute itself than food is going to do it according to its own logic and estimation. As long as we are involved there will be injustice. What is everything? What is food? Food is love, humility, power. Announcement for harvest production, see Zardoz, see Clockwork Orange, see the eyes of Alex DeLarge. There you will see food. Look in the eyes of Martin von Essenbeck, The Damned. Are we the damned of food? Yes or no, this is about self-accusation, self-denunciation. This is the only possibility to move on. We will only move on if we stick to one point of view forever. The eternal distance to ourselves. Than food will emerge on ourselves like it wants to be, like it wants to. This is not about our will. What I want is insignificant. Food wants. Division wants. Repletion wants. We are suppressed by our condition. This does not make us human beings.

by Jonathan Meese

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Jonathan Stack: We do in fact produce enough food for everybody in the world. And so, the question is, that's sort of like asking why aren't we better to each other, why aren't we kinder, why aren't we better? And maybe the answer is we are becoming that and that -- it is a progression of things. We are going to move in that direction, but trying to figure out why human beings don't behave in the way that they are capable of, is something I ask everyday and ask of myself everyday. Why aren't I the person that I am capable of or why don't I share more of what I have with other people? And that question and that desire to transcend my own limitations, my own flaw is what motivates me everyday to better. So, how do we reach that point where we collectively produce enough so that everybody can live well on this planet is one of those mysteries of the material world that we are going to have to constantly grapple with. And until we figure out the actual answer, we just got to do better everyday in the ways each of us can do something.

by Jonathan Stack

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

José Manuel Prieto: Behind this matter of the possibility or impossibility to feed every country and the entire population of our planet, there is a clear political background. There is a necessity of political willingness to ensure that the produced food reaches those in need and that the design of its distribution allows the needy to have access to the food, and not only access to the food but to generate production mechanisms so that they can actually feed themselves. It’s a challenge to feed [everybody], and I think it’s something that eventually will be achieved relatively soon, because there is a possibility, there are all the means , as said in the question, to feed the planet. And it’s a question of [developing] politics, what is in my opinion the main component, as shown in his investigations, by the Noble laureate in Economics, Amartya Sen, who dicovered or pointed out or determined the fact that many of the famines under which have suffered various countries, have been provoked by political and economic reasons, not because of the lack of food, but owing to the blindness of their political leaders.

by José Manuel Prieto

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Jwan M. Aziz: Because the economic containment of the countries requires that. For example, in some years in USA, the grist superabundance has been destroyed to keep the market prices. In addition to that, there are some countries which damage crops like tomatos in order to keep the prices constant,so such countries do not care about the need and the hunger of the others. Thanks.

by Jwan M. Aziz

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Kailash Satyarthi: Well, the intention of producing food is not always to feed the hungry stomachs. The purpose normally to grow more and more food is basically to profit out of it and to gain money out of it, not to feed the hungry poor. And, that’s why as more and more inventions are made to grow more food, some people who control the food business are benefited out of it and the food does not go to the people who need it. Secondly, in the developing world where the farmers produce food, the production expense sometimes is more than what they are able to sell in the market. And, that’s why they are not the one who can preserve the food material properly and then further distribute it when it is needed. So, the preservation is also a big thing. Again, the whole control of keeping the food in their houses is in the control of rich people and they know when to take it out and when the market demands. So, it is market-driven, not driven by the need of the hungry people. And, thirdly, the distribution. In many countries, there is no proper distribution of food material in time. The transportation, the communication is a major problem. And, that is also resulting in the scarcity of food in some parts, as well as overproduction in other parts.

by Kailash Satyarthi

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Kamal Boullata:

by Kamal Boullata

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Kigge Hvid: It’s basically a problem of distribution because we do produce enough food; we do produce enough food to feed the whole world. So, basically what we have here is a problem of distribution. It’s a problem of choice. It’s a problem of political choice. And, I think most of all, it’s a problem of fear. We would be able to with our technology and our knowledge right now, our ways of logistics, our insight in the world, we would be able to feed the whole world. It is in fact one of the UN 2020 development goals that we should be able to feed the whole world. So, why don’t we do it? Basically, it’s about some people in part of the world fearing losing instead of sharing. I think that what we should do concerning this question is that we should get a lot of people around the world to look into the overall system of distribution of economics and find out ways to distribute without fear. It is may be also a problem of the states where you are not able to feed your people of choices there. The question could be put in a way that you would put blame on some part of the world, which would be the Western world. I think to blame is uninteresting. I think to look into developments and possibilities are interesting. So, it is not a question of blame. It should be a question of development.

by Kigge Hvid

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Kurt Weidemann: It is hard to understand that food cannot be distributed in the world in a way, which gives everyone enough. But human egoism exists and it is very large. In Germany there is the saying "Holy Saint Florian (among other functions the patron saint of fire fighters), spare my house, put fire to another house". This means egoistic behaviour and the drive for survival make sure that there is too much in one place and too little in another place. I really wonder why mankind is not able to distribute their sources and means in a way to provide enough for every human being.

by Kurt Weidemann

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Lesego Rampolokeng: We produce more than enough food in the world to feed everybody. But, the human animal is much more concerned in the world today with the exploitation of its own self. So, we have food getting dumped. We have food getting tossed overboard ships. This world is not at all interested in feeding itself because the human animal has become so predatorial, has become so governed by self-interest where the ego supersedes every single thing else in the world. We are not at all interested in feeding those among ourselves who might be needy because then that takes away from us that which makes us believe that we rule over fellow beings. Human beings are governed by greed; human beings are governed by avarice. Human beings are much more concerned with making themselves stand above the rest of those who might be like them because then that takes away their own sense of importance, their own sense of being in control of the destinies of others. Human beings have contributed to genocide, to holocaust, to the decimation of entire populations of human being. So then, we are not at all interested in the feeding of other human beings because that would take from us, I would believe, our sense of being able to determine the faith and the destinies of others. I think that there is absolutely no reason for any member of society, for any sector of the human race to go hungry. But, I believe that until such a time comes when expansionism, when colonization, when the need to create poverty and starvation in order to prop ourselves up becomes an entire aberrance and abomination and a thing that is seen as being purely and completely inhuman and de-humanize. Perhaps all over these days, we can learn first to respect life, to respect ourselves and to see it is only by promoting world peace that we can all of us survive.

by Lesego Rampolokeng

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Leung Ping-Kwan: I think this has to do with profit for the businessmen that will be able to produce food. They will be more interested in getting imported rather than to helping to feed everyone in the world. So they argue, who will be to produce food to feed everybody in the world, but impacted the people who will be able to do that will be concerned with their own profit and therefore not so [ethical]. And also like unequal treaties, so the way of doing business with food are not really doing and looking in a very equal way that the typical different treaties in limiting or promoting trade that will lead to equal distribution of food.

by Leung Ping-Kwan

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Lijun Fang: The key is what is the standard of "enough". If it is considered as the basic needs for people to survive as animals in the nature, the food we are producing is already enough. However, food is always distributed unfairly in this world. Thus, some people may have possessed too many resources and food, while some other people do not have enough. For example, obesity exists in many areas; the large amount of food wasted in China everyday could possibly be enough to feed everyone in Africa.

by Lijun Fang

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Lillian Holt: Yes, I think this is a very good question. It's something that I've thought about as a child. A little girl in Africa used to think that why is it that some people go hungry and others don't? It's almost something about one half of the world [slims] and the other half starves. I don’t know why we can't feed everyone. I come from a culture, an [original] culture in Australia, which says, you know, you always give something to each. You always share what you've got and you certainly your meal. That's the traditional background I came from and that is being lost of course in some ways, but as we live in a more competitive society. But this idea of why don't we feed other people I guess it's got to do with distribution. It's got to do with wars. It's got to do with greed and maybe people aren't in the position to buy food. There's draughts. There's all sorts of things. Sometimes I feel helpless about this but I'm actually not hopeless. I think the fact that this question is being raised in a forum like this and many people are listening and will be part of them will be participating in it all over the world raises my hope. I see it comes from a woman who is almost half my age and today by today it would have been nice if I could actually give a really positive answer to this question.

by Lillian Holt

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Livingstone Maluleke: It’s a very interesting question. The production of food in the country is important because people can’t live without food. But, then, when we come to the real production of food, the question here is who is responsible for the production of food? Can we all stand up and go out there and start producing food? And if we do that, what is the implication thereof? And of course, here we find a lot of elements, the elements of, can all of us really produce food? You’ll find two dynamics here. There are external factors that [binds] the people from the real production of food, which of course include other – amongst other factors, do people have skills, do they have capacity enough to produce enough, do they have resources, do they have knowledge of production? And if they does have this knowledge, are they able to implement and put these functions into practice? Are they able to get there and have this thing of food production in place? And the other element is, if they are able to produce this food, are they having enough capacity to – can put the food on the market? Who are the consumers of our food really? Because, there’s another thing, all these things come to us all. It means, if we – if all people of the world are able to produce food, it is imperative for us to dwell on this food production so that we are able to deal with poverty. The country as a society is food really is really going to be affected by poverty, and there would be no prosperity if there is no food. And therefore, we all need food for our livelihood and this will as well open up lot of opportunities for communities to participate in the different levels. And therefore, it is important that we be able to produce this food. Let’s join hands. If all are able to do that, let’s join hands and produce this food for the benefit of everybody in the society.

by Livingstone Maluleke

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Mae-Wan Ho: And really we can produce food sustainably without depleting the earth, but we are not doing it because at the moment our food system not only agriculture, but the whole way we distribute and consume package and consume food and shift them all over the world is just unsustainable. We can change it, we have all the means of changing it but our governments, those who are in power are completely dominated by the old ideology and they are unwilling to change it. Furthermore, we have an unprecedented corporate control of the whole food supply chain and that is -- that goes hand-in-hand with intensive industrial agriculture. That is the system that is threatening the food security not only of developing nations but also of the rest of us.

by Mae-Wan Ho

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Mahsa Shekarloo: After the food is produced, then it must be sent into the markets. The problem isn’t the production of food. Limited debates and the issues are not there. The question is, what to do with enough food in the world once they enter into the markets. I think the forces that drive the production of food are linked to economics. The forces that drive the necessity to feed everyone else in the world, those are not linked to economics. Those are linked to issues of social justice, equality, self-determination, sovereignty. So we need to de-link the connection between the production and sales of food to issues of social justice, of human rights, accountability. Only then will we be able to properly answer this question.

by Mahsa Shekarloo

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Mark Benecke: The question is: do we really produce enough food, that is available for everybody? Is it possible to distribute all the food, that is produced to all places in the world, in the way that it can be paid for? It would be better maybe if more food would be produced in the areas where it is needed, anddelivered and distributed there and not just to produce food in a highly efficient way and then bring it to countries that can afford to buy this foods. A very good possibility obviously is to do as biological and organic and appropriate for that particular region as possible. Then people start to have enough food there and so don't export it, just leave it there, if you can, and then from that a real economical globalization and trading of the other food can go on. But at first, there has to be money and time and enough food for people to take care of these problems.

by Mark Benecke

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Martin Almada: Thanks to the advanced technology there is enough food for all the people in the world. Only due to the bad distribution of this food, as by the international funds or the World Trade Organization, there is hunger in the world, especially in the most impoverished countries. I recommend to read Yan Sígles' report on this subject. There are many reasons: insufficient education of impoverished communities, so that a poor peasant is not able to do the cultivation especially while agricultural companies use advanced machinery and systems that poor peasants are never going to afford; Distruction of fields continues, caused by the use of insecticides that destroy the biodiversity and the soil; Not enough fields are at people`s disposal; Lack of technology, to make any improvement possible; Missing resources. People abandon their rural communities and move to big cities where the situation is even worse: there are less possibilities to get food and the poverty encreases. Increasing exploitation of the soil turnes it into deserts as it already happens in many regions of our planet, wood trade on the black market, for example, keeps it going. Hunger has many explanations but no justification.

by Martin Almada

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Masami Saionji: It is because in any way human beings have egos. People have thinking in their mind that it is fine if we are satisfied or become rich. In the world, there is enough food, but if people only think about themselves or own country, then the food does not spread in the poor countries and the countries in poverty. Therefore, we must throw away such an egoistic mind, and it is necessary to consider about the world in the 21st century and the way to spread the food all over the world in the future. In some certain rich countries, there are overeating, dainty eating, edacity and food satiation. As a result, people throw away their food. How waste and nonsense this is! However, those people get sick, such as, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes by the overeating. We must throw away our Egoism and the mind that we eat as much as we can eat. I think that it realizes a filled good even world when we divide our food into people in poverty. Otherwise, we should change our way of eating through small appetite principle. The small eating doesn't make people sick. Moreover, we can live in a correct way of life and have spiritual minds. When all people eat lightly, then I think that food spreads evenly all over the world. And if each one loses one’s Egoisum and thinks about other people all together, we can share food equally over the world. First of all, the person who lives in the rich countries should change his way of eating. They should be small eaters.

by Masami Saionji

Sep 9, 2006 10:10:00 AM cite

Masuma Bibi Russel: This is a very good question. Why don’t we? Yes, this is my question too. There are so much hunger in all over the -- you know, especially so-called developed country. Why isn’t enough food is produced? That’s a very important thing, that’s a basic need of a person to eat well. When you eat well at least three times a meal then you can think very clearly and then everything comes. So, I think, that we have to really, really concentrate to have agriculture especially third world countries, so called, to agriculture, better agriculture, so that, because these people -- majority people live in the villages and the grass root people. So, it's so important to have enough food for the people. When you see in the world, especially in the children in all these countries, some part of Asia and Africa there is not enough food, malnutrition and that is a question because I travel to all these places and I always think how sad that there is not enough food for everyone. I think food is a very essential thing to a life, to think clearly, to be feel as a part of human being. So, it's very important we should produce enough food just to have these people can have three times meal, just to have enough meal. And it's a basic need and I think as a human being we all have to think about it so the world can produce enough food so there is no hunger anymore in the world.

by Masuma Bibi Russel