Cultivating Famine: The World Food Crisis

Publisher:  IDERA Films, Vancouver, Canada
Year Published:  1975   First Published:  1975
Resource Type:  Slide Show
Cx Number:  CX100

A look at the historical and structural causes of the wold food crises and their most commonly advocated solutions.

Abstract:  A look at the historical and structural causes of the world food crises and their most commonly advocated solutions. The montage demonstrates the relation between hunger and the underdevelopment of the Third World by focusing on colonialism, inequitable terms of trade and the control of food and agriculture by transnational corporations. After taking a critical look at such "solutions" as food aid, population control, and the Green Revolution, the montage concludes that only agrarian reform within a larger context of fundamental changes both within the Third World societies and in the international economic order can eliminate hunger.
Moving into the present, government response to growing farmer militancy is discussed with a particular look at the benefits and drawbacks of marketing boards. Using specific corporate examples, the montage details how the industry comes to control the lion's share of consumer's food dollar. In the same corporate vein, the difficulties of workers in food-related industries and the complaints of consumers are looked at in the light of the emerging market power of corporate food empires.
What is to be done? The montage contrasts the Federal Task Force on Agriculture's proposed "solution" to an alternative view of agriculture based on co-operative enterprise and public ownership of farm lands.

Subject Headings

• Food Issues
• Hunger