· April, 2008

Stories about Food from April, 2008

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: 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.

Burkina Faso: Vegetarians need not apply

  20 April 2008

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

  18 April 2008

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.

Korea: Rice Crisis in the past and at the present.

  18 April 2008

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]...

D.R. of Congo: Fifth fatal crash in under a year, food prices the real disaster

  15 April 2008

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

  15 April 2008

“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...