Tag Archives: global inequality

Thoughts on Food Waste and Inequality

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I was reading through Sydney’s post “Tons of Hungry People and Tons of Wasted Food.” about the high amount of food waste being produced by American farms. I wanted to add to the discussion on food waste and food insecurity introduced by Sydney by discussing the inequality present in our current international food system. While America sees about 40% of the food it produces going to waste (63 million tons), there are growing concerns from the chief of the UN’s food relief agency that the world could be facing a widespread famine of “biblical proportions.” Reports indicate that 30 nations, all from the developing world, are under threat of undergoing widespread famine, with 10 of these nations already having more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation. 

Map of areas where food insecurity is a concern, darker colors indictating the severity of the threat of famine.

This inequality when it comes to access and availability of food has been discussed in Clapp’s paper “Agricultural Trade Liberalization.” Clapp notes that trade policies employed by wealthy nations such as export subsidies and pressuring developing nations to lower tariffs on goods have led to producers in these more prosperous nations receiving better access to economic markets and, therefore, profit. This has led to an adverse effect on the economic and agricultural sectors of developing nations as these developing nations lose economic tools like tariffs and export taxes to strengthen their agricultural sector. At the same time due to export subsidies employed by wealthier nations, products from these richer nations have pushed out domestic agricultural producers leading to poverty and growing threats of hunger and famine as people in these developing nations are unable to pay for food due to their source of income being taken away due to import surges. 

Sydney’s article illustrates the luxury of food production and food waste in America and richer nations, which stands in stark contrast to the fears of food insecurity in the developing world. Due to economic factors and fear of angering domestic producers, it is unlikely that richer nations will take the necessary steps to address the inequality in trade and politics between them and developing nations. Yet, could these richer nations not take steps to help alleviate the threat of famine by shipping excess production and “food waste” to these developing nations? 

Climate Change Triple Inequalities: A Worldwide Crisis

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Cameron McElmurry’s blog post describes the locust swarms currently ravaging farms in the Horn of Africa. While reading, I recognized the injustice that many face as they experience crises caused by climate change and are forgotten while the world focuses on COVID-19. Worldwide, millions will face food insecurity and depleted agricultural incomes because of disasters such as this.

Cameron’s post reminded me of the “triple inequality” topic discussed in class. In terms of the current climate crises that are affecting the world, developing countries most often take the brunt of the short term effects. The triple inequality concept includes asymmetric impacts (follow the link for examples), responsibility (those who are most affected by climate change often have the least to do with it), and less capacity to adapt (less infrastructure and ability to rebuild or respond to disasters). 

Climate change is known to increase inequality, so, as developing countries experience more agricultural failure (droughts, pests, etc.) due to new climate disasters, they will have even less money and resources to make further changes, continuing the cycle of this triple inequality. 

Another topic we have discussed in class is the racial disparities present in the food system. A recent article describes the increased inequality of minority Americans during the COVID-19 crisis. It discusses how industrial regions of the country have high populations of minority workers and are disproportionately hit by hurricanes, fossil fuel pollution, cancer and other diseases as result of chemical and pollutant exposure, and now, coronavirus cases. This reveals the reality of triple inequality in America, where particular people groups are systematically affected by the means of production and climate changes that occur as a result of the environmental degradation supported by big business.

It is evident that at home and abroad, we must advocate for those affected by climate change and forgotten during the COVID-19 crisis.