I began this two-part series Monday with a piece, “The World Food Crisis: A Hydra-headed Monster.” Trivializing human suffering on a scale impossible to imagine by this writer and those who read what I write is easy. How can you wrap your mind around this reality?

Who Wants to be President?

I have a long list of critical issues requiring immediate attention when a new U.S. president takes office in January, the length and nature of which will make FDR’s “Hundred Days” plan look small (getting out of Iraq, caring for veterans, dealing with war crimes charges against Bush administration officials, developing an appropriate strategy for combating terrorism, turning the economy around, moving on a plan for universal health care, undergirding Social Security, restoring civil liberties, re-establishing international credibility, cleaning out politicized and crony-corrupted federal agencies, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, to name a few). But, as someone who worked with an NGO on the world food crisis of the 70’s, I’m not sure any of the problems listed above cloud the future more than the current global food crisis. Who would want to be president and face this problem?

Listen to Likbir Ould Mohamed Mahmoud‘s story. Even before taking the butcher knife to the she-goat's throat, he knew it would only make things worse.

This from The Council of Foreign Relations:

Food shortages and skyrocketing prices are putting pressure on many of the world’s poorest nations. The Wall Street Journal reports that at spring meetings of policymakers from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, some assigned partial blame to U.S. biofuels policies. The meetings produced “few concrete results” on the way forward. World Bank President Robert Zoellick is calling for a “New Deal on Global Food Policy.” and said the bank plans to double agricultural lending to sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, street riots have broken out across Latin America (Miami Herald), and in Haiti, where the prime minister was ousted from office on Saturday after protests against rising food prices ground the country to a halt (NYT). East Asia is also feeling pinched, with many countries limiting exports—particularly of rice—to meet domestic demand (ISN Security Watch). The Philippines has called for an emergency regional meeting to discuss the region’s food crisis (Bloomberg).

After reading an article on Time Magazine, discussed later in this article, it seemed that Time was sending a not so subtle message to the public, via innuendo, that required us to take a closer look at the situation in regard the nations food supply. On February 20, Bloomberg.com published an article that should have enjoyed wide media coverage, however was relegated to the alternative news as our MSM didn't see fit to warn America of the possibility of a looming global famine - and have been negligent in informing us that the food on hand in the United States is at a historic low, without question an issue of national security and survival. We investigated this matter in-depth and an eventual probability of famine in the US is avoidable, at least in the short term, but without the public understanding the danger we face, nothing will be done to alleviate this danger to America:

Famines May Occur Without Record Crops This Year, Potash Says

A story has recently made itself known in this space that has become more than a one-day event, and as a result we will be doing some follow-ups.

The complexity of the story requires that we discuss the nuts and bolts of the larger environment within which the story is contained, and we will do that today.

There have been efforts in the past to teach “life skills” to students in the public schools, and of course among those skills is the lesson of financial responsibility.

I can imagine that these classes, especially for a student forced to take them first thing in the morning, can be like a daily session of discussing Hawley/Smoot in Ben Stein’s high school economics class. So, so dull that they make you nod your head in....zzzzzzz...

I would never of believe this could happen in Ca. but not only does it happen, it seems to be wide spread and growing. I'm not talking about a huge amount of money owed per family before the punishment kicks in, the amount is only $5.00. What is happening when a parent owes 5 bucks or more ?

The third in a three-part series on Hunger in Massachusetts and part of the continuing guerrilla vlogger series.


Last summer, the food pantry near where I live sent out an urgent request:

Please help, we are having the busiest summer in five years. We need help feeding all the kids that are out of school and not receiving their school lunch.

The cold winter months and school vacation are the toughest times for providers to cope with their demands.

For this part of the story I sit down with a couple of providers for a one on one discussion and get out to a food pantry to see what they do exactly. Tony Luna of Central Food Ministry in Lowell, MA allowed to tape at his facility and Janet Barsorian of the Lowell Transtitonal Living Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in Lowell, gave me a few minutes of her precious time at the MVFB to discuss the challenges she faces as a provider.

The second in a three-part series on Hunger in Massachusetts and part of the continuing guerrilla vlogger series.

Last summer, the food pantry near where I live sent out an urgent request:

Please help, we are having the busiest summer in five years. We need help feeding all the kids that are out of school and not receiving their school lunch.

The cold winter months and school vacation are the hardest times to make ends meet when you're on a modest income. Massachusetts has a particularly severe problem with hunger because we have intense cold in the winter and the cost of living is so high all year round.

There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to alleviate the ever increasing and ever expanding needs of the providers in your area. This week a brief recap of part one and the full tour I got at Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

The first in a three-part series on Hunger in Massachusetts and part of the continuing guerrilla vlogger series.

Last summer, the food pantry near where I live sent out an urgent request:

Please help, we are having the busiest summer in five years. We need help feeding all the kids that are out of school and not receiving their school lunch.

So in an effort to learn more about this issue, I decided to do this vlog and I've been video-taping at the Merrimack Valley Food Bank for this diary.

I contacted them through their website and they were happy that someone, even a guerrilla like me, wanted to do something, anything, to shed some light on this problem and promote awareness about what they and all the other providers do and how you can help.

I hope that you follow me below the fold for the video and some facts about hunger. Please let us all know about your experiences in your area.