2015 Opinion and Letters

Opinion

Don't buy the spin: The WTO talks in Nairobi ended badly and India will pay a price Biraj Patnaik and Timothy A. Wise Scroll (India) December 24, 2015 Also see HN special report Trade and Hunger.

Defending the right to food at the World Trade Organization Biraj Patnaik and Timothy A. Wise Food Tank December 18, 2015 Also see Hunger Notes' special report Food as a Human Right

Will Washington greenlight another coup in Haiti? After December's elections, Haiti could have yet another U.S.-backed president with a weak democratic mandate. Natalie Miller Other Worlds are Possible December 8, 2015  

Evidence on corruption and humanitarian aid Paul Harvey CHS Alliance December 2, 2015

A closer look at advancing world food security. In agriculture, our free trade and commodity export agendas conflict with our development agenda, and the result is food insecurity. Here is the case for a change in focus. Michael McClellan Foreign Service Journal October 2015  

The socio-political and governance dimensions of hunger: Exploring Ethiopia’s crisis Fikrejesus Amahazion Pambazuka News November 10, 2015

Forty years on from independence, Angola still lacks freedom. As the country marks its anniversary, the authoritarian and entrenched MPLA regime rules with the excesses of a colonial power. Rafael Marques de Morais The Guardian November 11, 2015

Dangers of the Gates Foundation: Displacing seeds and farmers Miriam Mayet Other Worlds November 18, 2015

Progress against undernutrition, but uneven Jomo Kwame Sundaram  Inter Press Service November 19, 2015

GM crops and the developing world: Opposing sides miss the bigger picture Sally Brooks Pambazuka News November 14, 2015

Electing to ignore the poorest of the poor Eduardo Porter New York Times November 17, 2015

Undocumented youth are here through no fault of their own. But it’s not their parents’ fault, either. Using the phrase “no fault of their own” in discussing undocumented young people does not encourage us to look at the roots of the poverty and violence their families experience. David Bacon In These Times November 4, 2015

The myth of welfare's corrupting influence on the poor Eduardo Porter New York Times October 20, 2015  

Education gap between rich and poor is growing wider Eduardo Porter New York Times September 20, 2015

Women's progress outdid China's one-child policy Amarta Sen New York Times November 2, 2015

A woman makes roti (flat bread) in the kitchen of her home in Kaskikot, Nepal. (John B. Healey/For The Washington Post)

These cheap, clean stoves were supposed to save millions of lives. What happened? Marc Gunther Washington Post October 29, 2015

A protest in Lima during the October World Bank-IMF meetings there. Photo: Center of Concern

“Miracle-makers” IMF, World Bank found wearing no clothes at Lima Annual Meetings Aldo Caliari Center of Concern October 21, 2015

A tale of two food prizes Eric Holt-Giménez Other Worlds October 12, 2015

Africa and the WTO: the perils of weakening the development agenda Biraj Patnaik and Timothy A. Wise allAfrica October 9, 2015 See Hunger Notes special report Trade and Hunger

Global goals must fight the poor nutrition that kills 3 million children every year. The sustainable development goals need to reflect the complex causes of malnutrition in order to tackle one of the world’s foremost health challenges. Dolf te Lintelo and Nick Nisbett The Guardian September 30, 2015

Destruction of US credibility at WTO: It is hypocritical of the US to give price support to its farmers while denying it to the world’s poorest farmers Timothy A. Wise and Biraj Patnaik Live Mint September 8, 2015 See Hunger Notes special report Trade and Hunger

Why Pope Francis’s call to care for the poor is so contagious Cardinal Donald Wuerl Washington Post September 22, 2015

In Myanmar, a soft coup ahead of an election Min Zin New York Times September 11, 2015

Here's why industrial food is deceivingly cheap Danielle Nierenberg and Emily Nink Christian Science Monitor September 8, 2014

The U.S. has 35,000 museums. Why is only one about slavery? John J. Cummings III Washington Post August 16, 2015

The GM labeling law to end all labeling laws Timothy Wise Food Tank August 17, 2015

Ruthless power and deleterious politics: From DDT to Roundup Evaggelos Vallianatos Independent Science News July 17, 2015

The end of polio in Africa? Washington Post August 20, 2015

Julian Bond had the long view of this journey toward justice Marcia Davis Washington Post August 20, 2015

The mystery of ISIS Anonymous New York Review of Books August 15, 2015

Fit for whose purpose? Private funding and corporate influence in the United Nations Barbara Adams and Gretchen Luchsinger Global Policy Watch July 27, 2015 See Hunger Notes special report on development assistance

Don’t let food be the problem: Producing too much food is what starves the planet Oliver de Schutter Foreign Policy July 20, 2015

Did the U.N. financing for development conference deliver? Katy Migiro Reuters July 17, 2015

Address to the Second World Meeting of the Popular Movements Pope Francis July 9, 2015  

Big Corn vs. Big Sugar could have a sweet outcome for taxpayers Charles Lane Washington Post July 1, 2015 See Hunger Notes special report on trade and hunger
(Sugar producers in the United States obtain a higher price for sugar than is available in the rest of the world, harming U.S. consumers. This is done through a complicated marketing scheme involving the U.S. government. [See The Sugar Program: The Basics by the Congressional Research Service.] In order to do this, acesss to the U.S. sugar market by producers in the world is limited by U.S. law.)

What we're reading now Mark Bittman New York Times June 25, 2015

Regime change for humanitarian aid: How to make relief more accountable Michael Barnett and Peter Walker Foreign Affairs July/August 2015

So much for trickle down: only bold reforms will tackle inequality. Even the IMF recognises the vicious circle in which inequality breeds instability, which causes recession and spending cuts that make inequality worse. Larry Elliot The Guardian June 21, 2015  See the IMF's report Causes and consequences of inequality: A global perspective (39 page PDF file)

Why developing countries should stop discriminating against agriculture: A short history of agricultural trade policies over the past 40 years Alberto Valdés International Food Policy Research Institute June 11, 2015

Fear of almonds Mark Bittman New York Times June 3, 2015

Agriculture will drive Africa's rise to economic power Agnes Kalibata The Guardian June 3, 2015

Increased agricultural research investment needed to meet future food demand Chicago Council on Global Affairs May 20, 2015

Wasting the savanna Tim Searchinger and Lyndon Estes Washington Post May 9, 2015

Let's make food issues real Mark Bittman New York Times May 6, 2015

Paul Ryan loves talking about poverty, but he keeps getting the basic facts wrong Dylan Matthews Vox May 5, 2015  

The Global Food Security Act of 2015: What it is and why it matters Grace Burton and Louise Iverson Chicago Council on Global Affairs April 29, 2015

Unraveling the enigma of South Asian malnutrition Lawrence Haddad International Food Policy Research Institute April 14, 2015

What Kansas gets wrong when it tries to control what poor people can do with welfare Emily Badger Washington Post April 17, 2015  

Americans are spending $153 billion a year to subsidize McDonald’s and Wal-Mart’s low wage workers Ken Jacobs Washington Post April 15, 2015  

Monsanto admits an entire department exists to "discredit" scientists Christina Sarich Truthout April 9, 2015

Global Food Security Act a critical step forward in ending hunger Daniel Speckhard Roll Call April 7, 2015

We’re throwing away tons of fruits and veggies for not being pretty enough Anna Lee Washington Post March 13, 2015  

Where do the world's hungriest people live? Not where you think Shenggen Fan Huff Post April 1, 2015

We’re treating soil like dirt. It’s a fatal mistake, as our lives depend on it George Monbiot The Guardian March 24, 2015

Peasant sovereignty? Evaggelos Vallianatos Independent Science News March 18, 2015

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi says his country is in danger of collapse. "If this country fails, the whole region will slide into a cycle of anarchy that will represent a grave danger to all countries in this region, including Israel, and would extend to Europe."  Lally Weymouth Washington Post March 12, 2015

New project announced: Global food security by the numbers Ashleigh Black Chicago Council on Global Affairs March 12, 2015

Is gender inequality the main roadblock to achieving nutrition targets?  Lawrence Haddad IFPRI March 7, 2015

Food security: If the dreamers lose, we face a nightmare Less food for more people on a hotter, drier Earth. How can we work to avoid this future? The Guardian March 2, 2015

Let's grant women land rights and power our future Monique Barbut Inter Press Service March 4, 2015

From famine to feast in 40 years: Policy matters Shenggen Fan Huff Post March 3, 2015

Legal mobilization: A critical first step in addressing economic and social rights Shareen Hertel Open Democracy February 26, 2015  Also see Hunger Notes special report Food as a Human Right

What to do about "grand corruption? An estimated $17.6 trillion in murky money is held in tax havens, unidentified bank accounts or shell companies around the world — some of it acquired illegally through corruption, crime or tax evasion. Celestine Bohlen New York Times February 23, 2015  See HN special report Harmful economic systems: Obtaining income

Schoolchildren line up for a meal. More than half of American children don’t get enough vitamin D or E. Photograph: Alamy

Hidden hunger: America’s growing malnutrition epidemic Barbara Bush and Hugh Welsh The Guardian February 10, 2015

Oakland celebrates the radical political heritage of Rev. Martin Luther King David Bacon January 19, 2015 

Let's address the State of Food Mark Bittman New York Times January 18, 2015

The fight for civil rights, long after Martin Luther King John McWhorter, Jelani Cobb, Derecka Purnell, and Charles M. Payne New York Times January 19, 2015

How expensive it is to be poor Charles Blow New York Times January 18, 2015

‘Returning citizens’ are still one of D.C.’s most marginalized and motivated groups Clinton Yates Washington Post January 16, 2015

Soil: the sustainable alternative to oil income in Africa Richard Munang and Robert Mgendi The Guardian January 1, 2015

What happened to the biggest land grab in Africa? Searching for ProSavana in Mozambique Timothy A Wise Foodtank December 20, 2014

Read it and weep: The Congo is leasing 25 percent of its land to investors from other countries Lane Vanderslice Hunger Notes December 21, 2014

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