THE HUNGER IN THE WORLD EXPLAINED TO MY SON

Overview

Every five seconds a child under the age of ten dies of hunger. Every four minutes a person loses their sight due to a lack of vitamin A. According to the United Nations, 963 million people - almost one in six inhabitants of our planet - are seriously malnourished. At present, the right to food is surely, of all human rights, the one that is violated with the most impunity. Jean Ziegler argues that hunger is caused by human injustice and assures that today the world could produce enough food to feed the world's population. Among the main causes of this disaster, Ziegler points to stock market speculation, which forces cereal prices to rise, and the appearance of biofuels as a new source of energy. Burning food to keep millions of cars on the roads is a crime against humanity. Hunger is no inescapable destiny. A starving child is killed. The current world order of globalized financial capitalism is not only deadly, it is also absurd. Whoever speculates on staple foods kills children.