At this very moment, more than 20 million people stand on the brink
of starvation in regions of the Middle East and Africa. And this is to
say nothing of the close to 800 million
people in the world who are undernourished due to a lack of access to
food. You might think that the problem is one of physical scarcity:
There's simply "too many" people on the planet and not enough food to
feed everyone around the globe. But the truth is that there is actually a
surplus of food. Humanity produces far more food every year than
everyone on the planet needs to survive. Because of modern technologies
and economies of scale in agriculture, food production and storage, more
calories per person are produced today than ever before in human
history. And yet millions stand on the brink of starvation or suffer
from undernourishment or food insecurity.
So what explains this alarming fact?: Capitalism.
From a humanitarian or ethical standpoint, the solution to famine is to
immediately transfer the surplus food that already exists to the people
who need it most. But profitability is what makes the wheels of the
world's current economic system turn--and it's more profitable to
withhold or even destroy surplus food than to give it to those in need.
(Continued)
A malnourished child in a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia (AMISOM)
