World Hunger: Is the U.S. to Blame? | WBUR and NPR

TODAY IS TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010

Friday, June 21, 2002 at 10:00 AM EDT

World Hunger: Is the U.S. to Blame?

When President Bush signed a $190 billion farm bill that increased subsidies to American farmers, it was the death knell for millions of small farmers in developing countries around the world.

The flood of American crops on the global market is expected to drive down food prices, making it impossible for family farmers in the Third World to compete. The result is third world nations dependent on outside nations for their food.

In this hour, tackling world hunger. Has the U-S has set up the world for a food crisis? What needs to happen for world hunger to be a priority on the U-S foreign policy agenda?

Guests:

Neil Harl, Director of the Center for International Agricultural Finance at Iowa State University

Alan Larson, Under Secretary of State for Economic Business and Agricultural Affairs. He was in Rome for the UN Summit

Irungu Houghton, policy advisor for ActionAid USA. Worked with ActionAid Kenya on local national and regional public policy issues

Comments are closed.

Ben Zimmer on Language
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Blogger and lexicographer Ben Zimmer takes over William Safire’s language column. We’ll catch the new wave of American language.

Comments [2]

Will the Dodd Bill Do the Job?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Senator Chris Dodd finally unveils his bill to rewrite the nation’s Wall Street regulation. Is it tough enough to do the job?

Comments [4]

T.C. Boyle and “The Women”
Monday, March 15, 2010

Novelist T.C. Boyle on his book “The Women,” and the tempestuous love life of Frank Lloyd Wright. (Rebroadcast)

Comments [13]

‘Millennials’ on America’s Future
Monday, March 15, 2010

Country’s in a crunch. We’ll sit down with young Americans — “millennials,” age 18 to 29 — to hear how they see the nation and their future.

Comments [64]

IED’s in Afghanistan: Hard Numbers

The Department of Defense provided On Point with some statistics about IED attacks in Afghanistan, where there has been an increase in the use of such weapons over the past 14 months. It’s striking to see the spike in numbers — from 2,677 IED incidents in 2007 to 8,159 last year.

Christopher Hill: U.S. Troop Withdrawal ‘On Schedule’

U.S. Ambassaor to Iraq Christopher Hill spoke with On Point live from Baghdad today as early voting gets underway, part of the run-up to Sunday’s elections. “So far so good,” Hill said, despite scattered violence. Hill said that the plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops by Sept. 1, and to leave only a residual advisory force of 50,000 or fewer, remains “very much on schedule.” Observers worry that a spike in violence could derail that timeline.

The Supreme Court’s Radio Silence

For radio listeners, a key element of our conversation about the Supreme Court gun-rights case was conspicuously absent: the audio recording of the oral arguments. Here’s why.

More » | Comments [5]