Summary: Kossack "Fishoutofwater" has a diary up on the World Bank's report about the real reason food prices have been going up across this planet, leading to food riots and increased poverty.

I would like to expand on this diary by pointing out one thing which screamed out to me, the explanation for why it was "necessary" to hide this report, the silver lining in this cloud of starvation.

Corn ethanol and biofuels production has driven global food prices up 75%, triggering a global food crisis according to a secret World Bank report revealed by the London Guardian. The report was apparently kept secret to protect the United States which is most responsible for the diversion of food to fuel. The World Bank, released a report on Wednesday, July 2, on the jump in food prices without specifying the cause (PDF).

Food prices have accelerated sharply in 2008. Grain prices have more than doubled since January 2006, with over 60% of the rise in food prices occurring since January 2008 (Figure 1). Individual grain staple prices have increased even more, with monthly average wheat prices doubling since January 2006. Rice prices more than tripled between January and May 2008.

The answer is no. Since 1950, the earth's population has risen by more than four billion people, to 6.6 billion and UN projections put world population at 9.2 billion by 2050. The world currently faces a food crisis before the full impact of climate change and a 42% rise in population. The Malthusian vision may yet be vindicated. Most economists today are lucky that their predictions don't even have a shelf life. In this modern age of punditry, brass balls are a lot more important than prescience.

Food and water are essential elements that all human beings should have access to in order to live. Access to the minimum essential food & water are considered human rights. All else pales in significance.

The food crisis is not soundbite friendly, therefore it's not easy to gain a larger understanding of the issue without exploring multiple sources. Craig Mackintosh at Celsias, (which is the site that is homecourt for "The Celsias Show" which I host), did the legwork and in the process has written what I consider to be one of the most comprehensive discussions of this rapidly expanding calamity that I've encountered.

Craig has given me permission to publish his piece in full, which was originally posted at Celsias on May 5, 2008.

I just read an article at The Automatic Earth that has me so mad I've got to write my first diary just to calm down.

The World Has Not Always Been this Way exposes the venality of corporations like Cargill, ADM, Nestle, and Monsanto in destroying peasant farms and third world countries.

I have some quotes over the fold but please read it all and pass it on.

Before you are misled into believing this has anything to do with the 2008 Democratic Nomination, you should stop reading right now.  There is no Obama, nor Clinton, nor even McCain in this diary.  There is, however, imho, bad news which I consider good.  So with this disclaimer, if you wish to read about the IMF, and globalization, etc. etc. etc., please keep reading!

In my evening reading tonight, I ran across some bad news, which made me cheer in reading!  Nothing pleases me more than reading that the IMF (the International Money Fund) is "going down".  It is not that I am a radical, but I am a great sympathizer of the anti-globalization efforts that we have seen throughout the world.  The more I see efforts at quashing the protest, the more I wish to see the protesters succeed, at least in the majority of their efforts.

For me, my great interest in this topic was stirred in the late 90s, specifically, 1999, and the Seattle "riots" that occurred during the WTO meeting.  

[Promoted by DHinMI: When the candidates aren't fending off questions of vital importance to the survival of the planet like why they don't wear a flag pin on their lapel, they've occasionally discussed huge issues such as energy and global warming.  What hasn't been discussed much is a related and often neglected question: agriculture policy.  In fact, because of the importance of Iowa, candidates have to pledge their fealty to our policy of subsidizing the production of ethanol produced with corn.  Our ethanol policies are having unintended consequences, contributing to the kinds of problems that led to the "tortilla riots" in Mexico, and the worldwide move toward biofuels is contributing to the worldwide spike in food prices.  Let's hope that when the media is done with flag pins, they try to pin down the candidates on their plans for agriculture, in the US and around the world.]

It took more than 400 scientists and three years of haggling, wrangling and heated arguments to come up with the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) as dire warnings from the World Bank, the IMF and the UN's World Food Programme splashed the front pages of the world press in the last few weeks (the Executive summary, the Global summary and all its regional summaries are here in both pdf & HTML forms, a great trove of information for those who are interested). I have read all summaries and will endeavor to read the regional pieces as well in the next few weeks.

The 2,500 pages report concluded that while advances over the last fifty years had resulted in the world's food production increasing at a much faster rate than its population, the present system of production and trade meant the benefits were spread unevenly, and as we know, at intolerable price paid by the small farmers, workers and rural communities and of course, the environment.

The Purple Evolution includes the concept of Purple Dialogue where the blending of the colors red and blue become purple and inclusive of ALL points of perspective such that true solutions can be facilitated.  Life is not a this or that choice but rather an on-going dialogue that produces ever greater levels of awareness and understanding.  The year 2012 represents a time when people will reach a critical level of realistic awareness about and understanding of the world around them.  The veil of stupidity and/or naivete is being lifted at an exponential rate, faster than the powers-that-be can plan for it if they even realize that it is even happening.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the powers-that-be wish to do something that is REALLY BIG.  What that something could be boggles the minds of even the most imaginatively creative people.

The Catholic Church, the Masons, and the Jews are examples of very powerful organizations that are generally benevolent in nature who are all participating in REALLY BIG projects.  It would behoove people to attempt to communicate effectively or "Purpley" with representatives of these organizations.

Maybe it's the clarion call of his old colleague, Donald Rumsfeld, that tugs at his heartstrings of public service.

Wolfowitz Returns to U.S. Government as Adviser

Egad!

In many ways, the World Bank is a magnificent institution, with many tremendous people working at it, with a highly valuable large charter in terms of changing the world for the better.

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.

our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. ... we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes.

Sadly, as is all too known by anyone who pays attention, the World Bank's core charter does not speak to sustainability, does not address ensuring that the path for generating wealth does not foster disaster for tomorrow.

I hate to be the skunk at the ball. I also am happy that the junior Senator from Illinois and his young-at-heart acolytes bested the junior Senator from New York and her Rasputin Mark Penn.

But now that Mr. Obama has a victory under his belt, surely it's appropriate to give his positions on issues some closer scrutiny.

Should he get a free pass just because he's tall and dances with Ellen?

Africa Action doesn't think so. They gave Obama a B for his commitment to providing universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS.

That's "B" as in, "Better study harder for the next exam."

Edwards, Richardson, and Clinton got an A. Their report cards are here.

The World Bank is populated by Milton Friedmanite free-market cheerleaders.  And for the last 20 years they've been telling the starving nation of Malawi that they should not subsidize fertilizer for their farmers, because the "market" would take care of solving their problems.

It turns out once again that free-marketdroids are wrong.  Malawi reinstated their subsidy program last year, and they're now turning away food aid.

Who'da thunk it?  There's a reason, of course.  And I've talked about this kind of thing before.

International aid to poor countries, through institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, does often help, but also comes with many strings that do needy countries little good.

The World Bank and IMF insistence on privatizing practically every non-military government function tends to further impoverish, and sometimes kill, the poor people of such countries.

Generally, only countries with control of natural resources like oil escape the not-so-tender mercies of development agencies like the World Bank.

And then there's Malawi, a remarkable African success story, in spite of the World Bank, according to this New York Times story headlined "Ending famine, by ignoring the experts."

Infuriating details, below.

The US is backing another attempt to overthrow democratically elected gov't of Venezuela. While our ally Saudi Arabia is giving a gang rape victim 200 lashes. There is no election of Saudi royal family, recall, or referendum on their power, but the CIA isn't trying to remove them because big oil thinks they've already got best deal they can get there.

Given all the excitement in teh world markets these days, I thought it would be a good time to focus in on the unraveling of the dominant economic model using Peak Oil as the center piece.

The resistance to the idea of peak oil is profound and comes from two, not necessarily opposed, places: Vested oil interests, a relatively small but exceptionally powerful group, and the intellectual business and economic elite who have created an economic model based on infinite growth, a larger and even more influential group than the vested oil interest. At stake is the founding myth of the modern global economy: That infinite growth of the world’s GDP is not only possible, but THE method for curing all the world’s social ills.

if you're interested in economics keep going . . .

World financial markets are manipulated every day but today is special...

(I wrote this before I went)

Society is:

It's all about power and greed, profit before people all over the place. It's sad and it makes me so angry. We're in this huge cycle of capitalists who want to globalize the rest of the world to live like America does. That's invading other cultures, people's ways of life because WE THINK it's for the better. It's not, it's destructive towards human existence, the environment and our resources. We need to fucking cut back. We need to realize that everything can't stay the same, we're dying ... and it's all because we think capitalism is for the best. It makes me angry, so angry. Anger for the exploitation of people, the earth, cultures, resources, blah blah ... anger that my daughter is growing up in a place of such huge commodity consumption, a place that we think we need all this shit to survive. We don't. I think one thing that would help is to live more like how we used to years ago. I love the concept (which is already happening) of Eco-Communities. Perhaps one day I will be a part of one, living with others collectively, using resources collectively, gardening, pot-lucking together ... a close-knit community.

This will be an amazing experience for me, I know it will be.

Important news this weekend consisted of reporting the criticism of Representative Stark’s SCHIP speech on the floor of the house, the regurgitation of the same Iraq "facts" and the outing of Dumbledore.   Yes, Dumbledore’s gay and if there is anyone in the USA who doesn’t know who Dumbledore is I don’t know how you missed it because it was widely reported and seemed to edge out less important news, like the big demonstration in Washington, D. C. October 20, 2007.