Wander With Wild Things

So I've talked about the criminal scam that is corn-based ethanol here.

And I touched briefly on the effects of world hunger here.

Now I want to talk about cause and effect. We are rapidly spiraling into a global food shortage at the present. World stockpiles are at an all time low because, very simply, there are now more people on the planet than there is food to feed them. If you are reading (or writing) this blog, you are probably a person who pretty much takes food for granted -- you go to the grocery store and food is there for the taking. We, however, are in the minority and actions we take here DO affect what happens in the rest of the world.

Here is the heart of this particular travesty: the amount of corn used to produce ONE 25-gallon tank of ethanol could feed a person for a year. Can you please justify that to the family on the right? In 2008, 30% of the US corn harvest was used for this insanely inefficient fuel source that DOESN'T save energy and DOESN'T save fossil fuels. A THIRD OF THE CORN WE PRODUCED. If I had been eating ground up roots for a year just trying to stay alive, I believe I might be pushed into a murderous rage by that news.

The fact is, it's just wrong. It IS a crime, and even crueler, it is a crime that affects only the people suffering because of it. The perpetrators see no evil, hear no evil. Not only does it take food from the mouths of those who can least afford it, it also causes large amounts of resource destruction in countries where food is lacking. Put bluntly, hungry people don't give a shit about endangered species. And I can't blame them -- if you have to wonder if you will get your one meal of rice paste for the day, you are not going to spend one thought on the availability of natural resources that surround you. Even though those very resources directly affect the availability of neccessities like clean water, when one is struggling day to day to just SURVIVE, it is impossibile to consider the long term.

We all can think more about the results of the choices we make. Of course, perfection is impossible, we all make an impact and use resources just by existing. But each time a person chooses the ethical and the responsible, that DOES make a difference. People say money talks and it does. Where and how you spend your money shapes the flow of goods and services. So wanderers, let's shape it into a better place, shall we?