Population Growth and Feeding the Poor

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Recommended: solving world hunger

To begin with, I’d like to point out that hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Additionally, the vast majority of hungry people (827 million) live in developing countries, where 14.3 percent of the population is undernourished (Hunger Statistics). On that note, many people like to associate population growth as a cause that will lead to the scarcity of food, which is not entirely true. There are more than enough global food resources, and yet world hunger is extensive. In fact, most hungry people live in countries that have excess in food. Therefore, increasing food production will not solve world hunger. Food is readily available to those who can afford it, which is why solving the poverty problem is part of the answer to the world hunger problem (Shah, Anup). Accordingly, we have to ask ourselves what is the main cause of poverty around the world? As Anup Shah points out, poverty around the world is a consequence, mainly due to international trade and economic policies.
One of the political issues around this is the Genetic Modification of food (GM), which many people are unaware of. The science behind genetically modified food is always improving; however, the concern many people have is that a few large profit-hungry corporations are controlling the research, and promotion for GM. Therefore, there’s reason to suspect that they don’t always have our best interest at heart. Additionally, GM food is an expensive technology, making it hard for farmers around the world to have access to. Furthermore, patented laws have crippled the poor because biotech companies have patented indigenousness knowledge without consent. The patents are then used to create monopolies, which drive the price...

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...mme Fighting Hunger Worldwide. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Shah, Anup. "Population and Feeding the World." - Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
J.W. Smith, The World's Wasted Wealth: the political economy of waste, (New World's Press, 1989), pp. 44, 45.

Jeppesen, Helle. "Population Growth Challenges Poor Nations | Globalization | DW.DE | 10.08.2013." DW.DE. N.p., 08 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Sadik, Dr Nafis. "Population Growth and the Food Crisis." Population Growth and the Food Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

"How Does Judaism View Food Aid? A Text Study." N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Schwartz, Richard, Ph.D. "The Jewish Response to Hunger." The Jewish Response to Hunger. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Simmons, Shraga, Rabbi. "Ask the Rabbi - Jewish Views on Poverty." Ask the Rabbi - Jewish Views on Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

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