Food Crisis

I came across some thought provoking articles on the global food crisis and on global food production that I wanted to share:

Fresh Air interview: Paul Polak, Tackling Global Poverty His Own Way
Paul Polak, founder of the nonprofit International Development Enterprises, has spent 25 years working to eradicate poverty in Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and other countries in the developing world.
His perhaps-surprising conclusion: Government subsidies for the rural poor often make things worse....

Wall Street Journal Opinion article: Africa Does Not Have to Starve
Rapidly increasing world food prices have already led to political upheaval in poor countries. The crisis threatens to tear apart fragile states and become a humanitarian calamity unless countries get their agricultural systems moving.
Now, with conference committee negotiations over the final shape of the Farm Bill at a critical stage, Congress needs to change the foreign food-aid program and help avert this calamity. The Bush administration has urged, rightly, that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) be allowed to buy food locally, particularly in Africa, instead of only American-grown food....