U.N. Panel Urges Changes to Feed Poor While Saving Environment

by Steven Erlanger
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/world/europe/16food.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Summary
This article was about the conflict with saving the environment and feeding the people of the world. The production of food has become very costly over the years. Now people are trying to find a way to use less fossil fuels and start using more environmental safe resources to produce food. Because of the sharp increase in price for basic food like rice, or wheat, violent protests have occurred in many societies. (Haiti, Egypt, Cameroon, Ethiopia etc.) 60-80% of consumer spending in developing countries is now on food. The Bio fuel program, a program that promotes using biofuels instead of fossil fuels, is being discussed over many countries. They are considering using these resources, but are being cautious to the effects of them. (the increase in food prices to make the fuel…) Even though there might be some bumpy effects from this, Michel Barnier the French agriculture minister says that “absolute priority” must be given to food production. Australia, China, the Unites States and Canada have been discussing different approaches to biotechnology to help improve the price on food.
A) This article relates to the AP World theme the impact of technology, economics, and demography on people and the environment. The article relates to this theme because the effect of the increase on food prices has caused an issue for many countries in the world today. This is now a major topic of discussion for our world leaders. Feeding the people and keeping our economy up is very important, so this issue has become a priority. If we do not solve this issue we eventually will fun out of fossil fuel, and the prices on food will continue to increase dramatically, upsetting the people.
B) Food prices have always been increasing. It’s peak was in the 1970’s, and now it is at it’s highest since then. In our country’s past we have had some incidences where the price of food has jumped up, this was mainly because of environmental reasons like a drought. The poor went through a difficult time in these periods.
C) The author of this article is Steven Erlanger, and American Journalist. Steven has been very successful as he has gone and graduated from Harvard. He has won many awards from his articles and success as well. The reader can see that there isn’t much bias in this article. This could possibly be because it is a very factual article, just telling it like it is. However, there was more discussion on how switching to biofuels has become such an issue and a hassle that one can believe that Steven agrees with the idea that we should not switch.
D) Throughout this article I would have liked to have heard from one of the poor people that they have mentioned so much. In the article it seemed that one of the major issues was that the increase in food prices would effect them. Hearing from one of the poor would give the reader a better understanding on the effects of the sharp increase in food prices. How much does it affect them? How much have their lives changed because of it?
E) I believe that this was a good article, in that it is very relevant. It is a major issue in today’s world. Food is a necessity for life, and money is a big issue for people as well. Helping the poor with this issue I think is a good thing. Sometimes we don’t even realize that so many people in the world today are poor. If we help them then we can help our world. The use of biotechnology and bio fuels sounds like a good idea, one that can help our environment, but I think that more research should be done on it. They need to make sure that it is safe and effective before we begin to use it. How much would it change the food prices?