Whose Riot & Who's Wrong in Global Food Conflicts?

Democracy now seems to being doing a especially good job of shedding light on the various intersecting conditions that are producing food conflict right now by interviewing experts.

Below find links to three of their recent interviews. (Site has lots of related links, one can download interviews as video, Mp3, etc., and there is an opportunity to donate to their efforts!)

"The U.S. Role in Haiti's Food Riots"

April 24, 2008

DN! Summary: As people around the world continue to protest the soaring prices of basic food items, the World Food Program has described the crisis as a silent tsunami.The head of the Food and Agriculture Organization blamed the current global food crisis on “inappropriate” policy decisions over the past two decades. Nowhere is this more clear than in Haiti, where hungry people are rioting in the streets because they cannot afford to buy rice. Haiti imports most of its rice from the United States, which in turn remains heavily subsidized. We speak with human rights lawyer, Bill Quigley.

"Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe, Raj Patel Details “The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.”

Part I (April 08, 2008) and Part II (April 16, 2008)
interrogates subject of food riots in this interview with book author.

DN! summary: "Global food prices have risen dramatically, adding a new level of danger to the crisis of world hunger. In Africa, food riots have swept across the continent, with recent protests in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent—in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. In the United States there has been a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months. We speak with Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."