Publisher's Synopsis
From the Thinking About Issues series - an investigation of the underlying issues in world development and the world-wide implications. Problems of world development are with us daily, and we are all familiar with the needs of the third world. No longer is it sufficient simply to make a collection for one of the third world charities like Oxfam or Christian Aid. Third world countries themselves have made it clear that their ultimate concern is trade rather then aid. But then that brings us face with the problems of tea, coffee and many other commodities. Soon we are into realms of land ownership, tariffs, politics and economics - a world where the non-professional is so quickly out of the depth. There is no shortage of information fed to us through the news media and the various charitable bodies and agencies, many of which are extremely good at keeping us up-to-date in a world where the facts constantly change. What most of us need, however, is a summary of the underlying issues against which the day-to-day affairs can be understood and judged. Thinking About Food is written specially for this purpose. Whereas most people in the developed world think about food only at mealtimes, wondering what will appear on the plate, in developing countries millions live constant hunger, wondering if they will eat a all. With increasing populations, they often cannot afford to import foodstuffs or chemicals and fertilisers to increase their own food production. Is the answer aid from the west, or a reorganisation of the monetary system? New sources of food, or population control? If a solution is not found soon the day may not be far distant when we shall all be fighting for the last crust.
