Stories about Food from April, 2008
Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas: Rising Food Prices
KnowProSE.com blogs about the reality of rising food prices in Trinidad and Tobago, while Craig Butler at Bahama Pundit connects the rising price of food to the level of poverty in the Bahamas.
Grenada: Cocoa in the Sun
Blogging from Grenada, Free Spirit is in the process of harvesting cocoa…
Uruguay: Pictures of the World's Largest BBQ
Martin Balao attended and has pictures courtesy of Valentina, a reader, of the world's largest BBQ held in Uruguay. The event attracted more than 20,000 people and witnessed 12,000 kg of meat on the grill.
Egypt: Blogger Sharqawi Released
From Egypt, Hossam El Hamalawy announced the release of blogger Mohammed Al Sharqawi – but is concerned about the welfare of other detainees who have gone ‘missing.’ Sharqawi was arrested during the April 6 strike, which was a protest against inflation and which called for better wages for workers.
Egypt: Food Prices More than Double
The price of main staples such as rice, bread, beans, onions and even vegetable oil have more than doubled since 2004 and in some cases quadrupled in only a few months in Egypt, writes D B Shobrawy.
Egypt: Dairy Workers Stage Sit-In
Five hundred dairy factory workers staged a sit in and Hossam El Hamalawy from Egypt posts a picture here. The protesters are worried they would lose their jobs – after reporting to work after a month's paid leave – only to be told that they should take another two weeks...
Egypt: Detainees Update
From Egypt, blogger Hossam El Hamalawy updates us on the conditions of those arrested in the recent Al Mahalla protests and clashes, over inflation and increasing salaries. They include bloggers, journalists and activists.
Syria: Chocolate Thief
Wouldn't you hate it if someone waited for you to go pray, to steal your… chocolates?! Kinan from Jar of Juice, shares his “bitter” experience with a co-worker.
Trinidad & Tobago: Eating Less Meat?
Trinidadian blogger Nicholas Laughlin implores us to eat less meat.
Afghanistan: Farmers Displaced in Balkh Province
Mohammad Fahim reports that dry spring, which shattered arable lands and increased the food prices, forced hundreds of farmers to leave their homes in agricultural Balkh province in order to survive.
Japan: Food Shortage
Shisaku talked about his frustration about food shortage.
Japan: Food Crisis added to G8 Agenda
The GLOCOM blog reports that the world food crisis will be placed on the agenda at the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan this summer.
Burkina Faso: Vegetarians need not apply
As much as Ouagalais love political intrigue, most people are much more preoccupied with the power cuts that have afflicted the city for the past five weeks or so. First, a galet poussoir, which translates as a roller tapet, failed at one of the city’s main power stations, forcing Sonabel, the local power company, to schedule rolling blackouts throughout the city every day for more than a week until someone was sent to France to pick it up a new piece.
Haiti, Congo, and the politics of hunger
Two francophone bloggers respond to the crisis over rising food prices, but rather than blame their proximate cause–subsidies for biofuels in rich countries–they criticize the politics and the politicians who left their countries this vulnerable to begin with. They write that the riots of these last few weeks and the riots to come, like the crisis itself, are symptomatic of deeper problems that cannot be solved by the simple magic of foreign aid.
Barbados: Rising Food Prices
Bajan Global Report takes a look at how rising food prices are affecting various Caribbean territories.
Korea: Rice Crisis in the past and at the present.
Issues related to the rice crisis are appearing everywhere. There have been serious demonstrations against opening the rice market to other countries in Korea. A netizen who participated in demonstrations for the domestic rice market talks about the past and the present. 15년전 겨울, 쌀개방 반대 선전지를 다시 읽어보며.. [68]...
Haiti: Reasons for Riots
The Haitian Blogger says that “amid food riots in Haiti, US claims of ‘success’ in Haiti sound hollow.”
Cuba: New Freedoms
Blogging from Havana, Circles Robinson Online writes about Cuba's “new freedoms”.
Kazakhstan: Wheat Export Policies
Joshua Foust analyzes the latest moves undertaken by the Kazakhstan government in fighting two-digit inflation by suspending wheat exports.
D.R. of Congo: Fifth fatal crash in under a year, food prices the real disaster
News agencies are reporting that 75 were killed when a cargo plane crashed in Goma shortly after takeoff on Tuesday. Du Cabiau à Kinshasa reflects on how a plane crash can bring attention to the DRC, generally ignored by Western media, even though it's reeling from one of the greatest human disasters in a century. But Cabiau thinks the skyrocketing food prices, although less photogenic, are the real disaster in the making.
Bahamas: Collective Responsibility
“We have real problems in the Bahamas. For us to play like we don’t see our own flesh and blood out there hurting is just turning a blind eye to what is happening and we shall all experience the results later on”: Craig Butler believes that Bahamians must take responsibility...