Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.Robert Louis Stevenson

May 2011

  • Our Consumer Power

    Rising food costs and food insecurity prompted the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to commission a report on food loss. The results are nothing but striking. Each year 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted, representing about a third of the food produced for human consumption. What the report defines as losses occur as a result of inefficient production and processing; what it defines as waste occurs when retailers and consumers throw away edible food. The report places blame on the retailers of nations like the United States where much food is thrown away because it looks unappealing. Marketing tactics and consumers, albeit indirectly, are also blamed for respectively encouraging and being part of buying more than is needed. The food chain is long and complex and hopefully the appropriate individuals and organizations will address the highlighted losses and wastes. As consumers, however, there is much we can do. If we were less wasteful in the way we buy and consume, what a difference we could make!

  • Something Good In Darfur

    Because Darfur is almost a synonym for suffering, it’s so gratifying to read about something good happening there. The UN-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) sponsored a project in 8 villages of North Darfur which will facilitate access to water. More importantly this kind of access means that the sexual and gender based violence associated with obtaining water will be reduced. A village resident summarized the benefit, “for years we have been afraid of being attacked while fetching water and collecting firewood; it is not always possible to move in groups…” The barrel-shaped water carriers are designed to lessen the physical burden of carrying the water, a task which in Sudan is mainly the responsibility of women ad children. The UNAMID project is part of a larger initiative training midwives and helping to improve health and education in the region’s villages.

  • From The Consumer POV?

    Nestle’s Chairman, Peter Brabeck has some definite ideas about water. “Selling water on exchanges the same way other commodities are traded could help solve a shortage of the world’s most precious raw material likely to hit long before oil runs out,” he said. A strong believer in the forces of the market, he cited the example of the Gulf State of Oman which had a water exchange system dating to ancient times and which stabilized prices, as well as the high price of oil which is eroding demand as people adapt. His reasoning obviously makes sense from his point of view. But I wonder how different his arguments would look from the vantage point of consumers? Would they then look as rational or desirable?

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