The Business of Food

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CONTENTSThe ‘Big’ Business of FoodThe Real Cost of FoodWho is Benefitting from Agricultural Trade?The Agri-Food ChainFood DumpingDumping and DonatingWhere is it Fair?Coffee — Who Wins? Who Loses?Poisoned YouthCase Study: TanzaniaWho’s in Control?

PROJECT PROFILESHundeeDabane Trust

QUIZZES AND EXERCISESJeopardyThe Questions of Food

From Mathematics to Literature—5 minute WFD exercises

ACTIVITIESTomasito the TomatoThe Land Challenge

Business of FoodBusiness of FoodBusiness of FoodBusiness of FoodBusiness of Food

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsBusiness of Food is a 2001 Oxfam Canada production.

Contributors

Linda RossBill HyndErin DroverDeborah QuaicoeMichelle BeveridgeJaelyn McComasTracey MitchellAudra Krueger

Josee TardifErin StangPaula GrossoRika Saha

Erin SkrapekNora AbouguendiaMark FriedPia Pehtla, Designer Mice

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‘BIG‘BIG‘BIG‘BIG‘BIG’ Business of Food’ Business of Food’ Business of Food’ Business of Food’ Business of Food’ Business of Food

In Canada, an entire meal could bebrought to you courtesy of tobaccogiant Philip Morris Inc. through one

of its many alter-egos of Sungold Dairies,Tombstone Pizza, Lender’s Bagel Bakeryor Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. More andmore of the food we eat is owned andcontrolled by food multinational corpora-tions, who dominate every sector fromseed to transportation to processed TVdinners. And with this market domi-nance comes huge profit.

Multinational food companies aremaking money at every step in the foodproduction chain—at the expense of thesmall farmers who produce the food andpeople who pay more money each year toeat a less diverse and more processeddiet. Under this corporate food system,many small farmers are now losing theirfarms, while more and more people mustresort to food banks.

How did we get tothis stage?

We got to this stage through gov-ernment policies that permitted multina-tional giants—which have no allegianceto a country or its citizens—to moveinto the food system with insufficient orno regulations to hold them accountable.International trade agreements like theWTO and NAFTA, endorsed and heavily

promoted by the Canadian government,further enlarged the share of the globalmarketplace controlled by such companies.

The logic of global competition hasdriven large companies to buy out smallerones and to squeeze even more profit outof those growing the food. More and moreof the food we eat is controlled by fewerand fewer corporations—the largest,richest and most powerful ones.

Many people are concerned that suchcompanies focus solely on profit, neglect-ing health, environment, and the peoplewho work for them. As Nikki van der Gaagof the magazine New Internationalist (NI)says, “It is an approach to food productionwhich sees the soil only as a source ofprofit and the earth as a resource to plun-der.” (New Internationalist 323, May 2000)

Some of the concernsinclude:• Land Distribution — In many countries,

agribusinesses own the most fertile land.Local people do not have land to farm, sothey have to work for the agribusinesses,who often pay low wages and provide poorworking conditions. Very little of theprofits are invested in countries where thefood is grown. For example, for everydollar that US consumers spend on ba-nanas, only 14 cents stays in CentralAmerica in the form of taxes and wages.The rest of the money is taken out by the

CONTENTS: ‘BIG’ BUSINESS OF FOOD

Today, six or fewer companies control around 70 per cent of worldagricultural commodity trade.

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companies. (World Hunger: 10 Myths, page 90)

• Genetic Engineering — Manyagribusinesses genetically engineer theseeds they grow. These seeds are thenpatented. Putting aside for the momentthe potential dangers of GE foods, withpatented GE seeds, farmers must buyseeds every year; they are not allowed tosave some seed from the previous year’sharvest.In 2001, Saskatchewan farmer PercySchmeiser was sued by the agribusinessMonsanto. Some of Monsanto’s geneti-cally engineered crops were found growingon Schmeiser’s farm where he had beengrowing a strain of crop he had developedhimself over the years. Schmeiser claimedthey came over as genetic drift, that theyhad blown over from a field that wasplanted with the GE Round Up Readyseed. Monsanto claimed Schmeiser hadknowingly planted the seed and sued himfor infringing the Round-up Ready patent.Monsanto won.

• Pesticides — Most agribusinesses use alarger amount of pesticides than smallfarmers, which can be damaging to theenvironment, farmers, and consumers.The World Health Organization estimatesthat 3 million people a year are poisonedby pesticides, and over 200,000 die.(NI, May 2000, ‘Pick Your Poison’)

• Cash Crops — Usually agribusinessesgrow food for export rather than food tobe eaten in the country where it is grown.When much of the land in a country isdevoted to export crops, the people haveto rely on imported food to eat, which isoften expensive. Oxfam Canada believesdeveloping countries should undertakeexport agriculture only as part of a na-tional plan to ensure everyone will have

enough to eat.A corporate food system that relies on increased global trade

and production for export will be hard put to enable food securityfor all.

“Any trade agreement must guarantee the food sovereigntyand security of the peoples, because food is a basic and funda-mental human right. Food must be safe, accessible, and provide afair and adequate return to primary producers. Farming, livestockproduction, fishing, and agro-forestry must be practiced in con-cert with public policies which protect and respect the rights ofthe men and women of the land, including farmers, farm workers,and indigenous people. Such policies must also protect andrespect their use of natural resources such as air, water, soil,biodiversity, knowledge of genetic resources, the right to land,and forms of collective community land rights.”

“The agricultural policies put into practice by the govern-ments of the Western hemisphere must encourage and ensure theexistence of indigenous people, family farmers, and other peoplewho labour on the land. These policies must limit the export andimport of significant quantities of food which destroy our localeconomies and put at risk our health and our environment.Consequently, governments should promote sustainable agricul-ture and prohibit the use of transgenic food products. In addi-tion, given the profound inequalities among our people, weshould seek equitable development rather than promoting ‘freetrade’ which is unequal by nature. The governments of the West-ern Hemisphere must recognize that the current policies of theWorld Trade Organization and regional trade agreements, such asNAFTA, have served to concentrate power and wealth in the handsof a few transnational corporations and have deepened the pov-erty and dependency of our peoples.”

“We will not tolerate injustice and destruction caused bysuch policies. Our struggle has a long history, and we are deter-mined.”

The above is a statement made at the People’s Summit of the Americas inQuebec on April 20, 2001. Representatives of rural communities who tookpart in the Agriculture Forum called into question the role of trade agree-ments, multinational corporations and government policies in the foodsystem.

OXFAM CANADA BELIEVES . . . .

CONTENTS: ‘BIG’ BUSINESS OF FOOD— CONTINUED

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CONTENTS: THE REAL COST OF FOOD

The RThe RThe RThe RThe RThe Real Cost of Foodeal Cost of Foodeal Cost of Foodeal Cost of Foodeal Cost of Foodeal Cost of Food

What was the amount of your lastgrocery bill? Are you the type ofperson who shops with coupons

at the discount store? Or are you willingto pay more for ‘quality’ and brand names?Either way, you can be assured that wher-ever your food dollar goes, an inordinatelysmall amount is actually making its wayback to the farmer.

For generations, farmers have dedi-cated themselves to providing food forpeople around the world. Yet, despite theirvalued efforts, farmers are increasinglybeing denied their entitled income. In-

stead, those who package,market, transport, adver-

tise, and process food areexercising their corporate marketpower to increase their share of

the consumer food dollarwhile the farmer’s share

continually falls. Often, theraw farm ingredient in the food

product is the least expen-sive ingredient in the mix.

A dairy farmer, forexample, will receive 16cents from a glass ofmilk that costs $1.50 ina restaurant.

An average box ofCornflakes in 1975 sold for

$0.55 and of this, produc-ers received 7 cents for the

corn that went into it. In1998, the price of Cornflakes increased

sharply to $3.03 while the farmers’s haverose to only 10 cents.

In 1975, Saskatchewan wheat in akilogram of flour represented over half(51.2 %) of the retail price. By 1998, itwas 14.3 percent.

Year

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$0.55

$3.03

7 ¢

10 ¢

soldfor

producers

receivedCornFakes SalesCornFakes Sales

Yearsoldfor

producers

received

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One way to ensure that farmers aregetting more money for their product is tobuy organic food and products. Buy lo-cally-grown products—you can be surethat less money is going to the transporta-tion of such products and more to thefarmer. Farmers also need to speak with aunited voice on critical issues to increasetheir market power in the hopes of a betterfuture.

The following chart indicates just howbad the situation is. Ask yourself: What isit worth to you to be able to eat? Andshouldn’t that money be going to thepeople who grow the food? After all, youaren’t paying for the box, you’re paying forwhat’s inside.

The disparity is evident.The disparity is evident.The disparity is evident.The disparity is evident.The disparity is evident.

Is this fair?Is this fair?Is this fair?Is this fair?Is this fair?

No.No.No.No.No.

Can we stop this?Can we stop this?Can we stop this?Can we stop this?Can we stop this?

Maybe.Maybe.Maybe.Maybe.Maybe.

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The declining share quantified Farmers have been point-ing out the discrepancies for years: grocery bills may be increas-ing, but the producer portion of those bills remains small. Theseexamples show what farmers are paid for ingredients they supplyas grocery items compared to retail prices.

Year

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675 g

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Product

Bread

Milk

Beef

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CONTENTS: THE REAL COST OF FOOD— CONTINUED

Canada’s FoodCosts Lower

Canadian consumers spend alower proportion of their

disposable income on foodthan do consumers anywhereelse in the world, according

to 1999 figures. The percent-age reflects both stable foodprices in Canada and Canadi-ans’ high level of disposable

income, compared to in-comes and costs in other

countries.

Canada 9.8%United States 10.9%

United Kingdom 11.5%Australia 14.6%

Japan 17.8% Producer portion for corn flakes reflects price of corn onlyProducer portion for bread is based on the CWB price of wheat.

Source: Centre for Rural Studies and Enrichment, St. Peter’s College.

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• Beverages: Nescafé, Taster’s Choice,Nestea, Nesquik, Carnation.

• Cereals: Golden Grahams, Cocoa Puffs,Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast.

• Nestle infant foods• Culinary Products: Maggi, Libby’s• Frozen Foods: Magi, Stouffer’s,

Lean Cuisine.• Ice Cream: Nestle Drumstick, Nestle

Crunch, Haagen-Dazs, Montego SherbetBar, Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Sandwich.

• Chocolate: Crunch, KitKat, Quality Street,Smarties, Baci, After Eight, Baby Ruth,Butterfinger, Aero.

• Pet Food: Friskies, Fancy Feast.• Pharmaceutical Products: Alcon,

Galderma• Cosmetics: L’Oreal

Nestle

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CONTENTS: WHO IS BENEFITTING FROM AGRICULTURAL TRADE?

Who is BenefittingWho is BenefittingWho is BenefittingWho is BenefittingWho is BenefittingWho is Benefittingfrom Agricultural Tfrom Agricultural Tfrom Agricultural Tfrom Agricultural Tfrom Agricultural Tfrom Agricultural Trade?rade?rade?rade?rade?

9 Proceedings of the forum on: The Asian Crisis: Impact on Women and Children,August 20, 1998, Manila, Philippines, p. 3.

Excerpts from a brief bythe Canadian NationalFarmers Union

Despite record and rising exports, Canadian farmers arefacing the lowest income levels

since the 1930s. For them, export-expansion is not a winning strategy.But we should also ask ourselves:What is the effect of ever more andever cheaper Canadian agri-foodexports on the farmers in the recipi-ent countries?

If a Canadian farm family cannotmake a living growing 1000 acres ofgrains and oilseeds using the latesttechnology, how are Thai and Peru-vian farmers doing? Before we gearup to “serve the Asian market” wemight want to ask who was previouslyserving that market? Before wenegotiate the FTAA, we may want toask what will be the cost in terms ofeconomic dislocation? And when wesee famine and starvation, homeless-ness and landlessness, economicinstability and revolution around theworld, we should ask ourselves ifthere is any connection betweenthese calamities and the effects thatour exports are having on indigenousfarmers and communities?

If Canadian farmers were winning andthose in other countries were losing, thenwe might ask if the benefits were worththe cost. But with Canadian farmers losingas well, the answer is clear.

Around the world, peasants are beingforced off their land and into cities. With-out money to buy food or land to grow it,they face a desperate future. When wepush other countries to rely on Canadian-grown food rather than their own, wefoster a system wherein only those withthe money to buy food can eat.

Flooding the world market with foodat prices far below the cost of productiondamages other countries’ ability to feedtheir citizens. Below is an example fromthe Philippines:

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Production of food for local con-sumption is likewise on a downwardtrend. The lack of governmentsupport, the unabated and indiscrimi-nate conversion of prime agriculturallands, and the flooding of our mar-kets with cheap imported agriculturalgoods, all combine to render agricul-ture a sunset industry in the verynear future.(9)

In the Philippines today, 10 millionof the 32-million-person labour forceare unemployed and another 15

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million are under-employed.(10) Giventhis level of unemployment, movingto a import-based, cash-based food-distribution system seems unwise.

The story is the same around theworld. Farmers are being forced off theirland and into cities by a flood of cheapfood imports. Those remaining are forcedto divert land from domestic food produc-tion to export cash crops: simultaneouslyexacerbating domestic hunger and interna-tional oversupply. The U.S., EU, and, tosome extent, Canada have attempted tosave some of their farmers through multi-billion-dollar support payments. Unable tomatch such payments, developing countriesare largely helpless as our cheap foodwashes away their farmers, rural communi-ties, and capacity to produce food.

CONTENTS: WHO IS BENEFITTING FROM AGRICULTURAL TRADE?— CONTINUED

There are beneficiaries of increasedagri-food trade and globalization: ArcherDaniels Midland’s worldwide revenues havenearly doubled since 1990. ConAgra’s havemore than doubled since 1989. And PhilipMorris’s have tripled since 1987.

As these huge corporations grow,their market power—their ability to buycheaper from farmers, sell higher to con-sumers, and bargain harder with workers-also grows. The failure of increased agri-food exports to benefit Canadian farmers,consumers, or workers may be related tothe takeover of the global agri-food sectorby such corporations. When negotiatingtrade and investment agreements, thegovernment should keep in mind that suchagreements add to the power and profit-ability of these corporations at the expenseof farmers and other citizens.

10 The Asian Crisis: Impact on Women and Children, p. 4.

WHOWHOWHOWHOWHO’S IN CONTROL’S IN CONTROL’S IN CONTROL’S IN CONTROL’S IN CONTROLPhilip Morris

Kraft• Beverages: Maxwell House,

Crystal Light, Kool-Aid, Tang.• Cereals: Alpha-Bits, Grape Nuts,

Honeycomb, Pebbles, RaisinBran, Shredded Wheat.

• Condiments and Sauces: KraftMayonnaise, Bull’s Eye Barbequeand Grilling Sauces.

• Desserts: Terry’s ChocolateOrange, Toblerone, Jell-O, DreamWhip Whipped Topping Mix.

• Mexican: Taco Bell Dinner Kits,Salsa, and Meal Components.

• Cheese: Kraft, Cracker Barrel,Kraft Singles, Kraft Cheez Whiz,Velveeta, Philadelphia CreamCheese.

• Processed Meat: Oscar MeyerHot Dogs, Cold Cuts, andBacon.

• Pizza: Digiorno, Tombstone.

Miller BrewingCompany Products• Miller Lite, Red Dog.

Philip Morris Cigarettes

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CONTENTS: THE AGRI-FOOD CHAIN

Imagine food production as a longchain. The first link represents oiland natural gas companies. Moving up

to the next link, oil is refined into dieselfuel and fertilizer companies turn naturalgas into fertilizer (anhydrous ammonia, oneof the most widely-used fertilizers). Nextcome the chemical, machinery, seed compa-nies and banks. All these links togetherform “input” links.

In the middle of the chain is thefarmer who combines the inputs—energy,seed, technology and capital with soil, rainand sun to produce food.

Accepting the farmer’s outputs are thegrain companies, railways, cereal proces-sors, packers, brewers, retailers and restau-rants.

Almost every link in this chain, nearlyevery sector, is dominated by between two

and 10 multi-billion-dollar multinationalcorporations. The single significant excep-tion to the pattern of extreme concentra-tion outlined above is the farmer. InCanada, that link is made up of over270,000 relatively small family farms.

In 1998, gross revenues for all Cana-dian farmers together were $29 billion. Insharp contrast, Philip Morris Inc., alone,had revenues of $109 billion.

Consumers pay trillions for food. Theprices they pay increase each year. Thecorporations that make, transport, package,process and sell that food make billions inprofits. The corporations that make trac-tors, fertilizer, and pesticides make billions.There is no shortage of money in the agri-food system, it is merely distributed poorly.

The Agri-food ChainThe Agri-food ChainThe Agri-food ChainThe Agri-food ChainThe Agri-food ChainThe Agri-food Chain

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• Feed• Ferrous Metals Trading• Fertilizer Distribution• Fertilizer Production• Financial Instrument

Trading• Flour Milling• Freight Operations/ Vessel

Chartering• Fruit Juices• Fruits and Vegetables• Grain

• Barge Operations• Beef• Broilers• Cattle Feeding• Cocoa Trading• Coffee• Commodity & Finan-

cial Futures Brokerage• Cotton• Dry Corn Milling• Egg Products• Fats and Oils

• Leasing• Malt• Molasses• Nongrain Feed Ingredients• Oilseeds• Other Commodities• Peanuts/Nuts• Petroleum• Pork• Poultry• Rice Milling• Rubber

• Salt• Seed• Steel Manufacturing• Steel Recycling• Steel Service Centers• Structured Finance• Sugar• Swine Production• Turkeys• Wet Corn Milling• Wire• Wool

Cargill Products and Businesses

* from the National Farmers Union Brief, “The Farm Crisis, EU Subsidies, and Agribusiness Market Power.” February 2000.

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CONTENTS: FOOD DUMPING

Food DumpingFood DumpingFood DumpingFood DumpingFood DumpingFood Dumping— Undermining Food Security— Undermining Food Security— Undermining Food Security— Undermining Food Security— Undermining Food Security— Undermining Food Security

For example….Jamaican farmers first started giving

away their milk in 1998, then using it asanimal feed, and by 1999, were throwing itaway. They threw away more than half amillion litres of milk. Then farmers beganto slaughter their animals. This was hap-pening because cheap milk and milk pow-der from the United States and the Euro-pean Union was flooding the Jamaicanmarket.

At the time, hundreds of thousands ofdollars in aid, mostly through the UnitedNations Food and Agriculture Organization,were being sent to Jamaica to support thedevelopment of their dairy industry. Notonly is this ironic, but, for every dollardeveloping countries like Jamaica receivein aid, they lose $14 dollars in potentialearnings because of dumping.

Dumping occurs when vast quantitiesof a product are sold in a country for lessthan what it costs to produce it. ‘Dumping’undermines the economies of developingcountries because local producers areunable to compete and sell their ownproduct as cheaply as the foreign import.

For example, if it is generally acceptedthat it costs a Canadian farmer $2 toproduce a kilogram of product (costs forfeed, water, perhaps labour, transportationto get the product to market), then that

same product is considered ‘dumped’ ifCanada sells it in Jamaica for less than $2.

There are several reasons why a prod-uct can be sold cheaper than the cost ofproduction.

1) Some countries’ government, like the EUand US, subsidize their farmers with cashpayments or special credit terms. In theWTO Agreement on Agriculture, this isreferred to as domestic support. Thisbrings down the farmers’ cost of produc-tion and enables them to sell the productfor less than it really costs to produce ityet still make a profit.

2) Often the exporting government, like theU.S. and the E.U. will make a deal with anexporting company that ships the prod-ucts. Cargill for example, is a multina-tional corporation that is the world’slargest grain shipper and trader, and hasalso diversified into beef packing, coffee,fertilizer production and distribution. Theexporting government pays an exportsubsidy or gives tax exemptions to theshipping company which covers the costof transportation. This means that thefinal price of the product, when it reachesthe recipient country, doesn’t reflect thetransportation costs and is that muchcheaper.

3) Countries that do subsidize their farmersoften end up producing more than what

Rich countries subsidize agricultural production, producean excess and then to get rid of it, sell it in Third Worldcountries below market price (i.e. dump it) forcing ThirdWorld producers out of business.

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“Careless use of food aidcan have devastating ef-fects on developing coun-tries. The famine relief aidprovided by surplus grainfrom the US, for example,destroyed the indigenousmillet market in Africa.”“Food Security: A first steptoward more fair trade” WorldVision, 2000. Wendy Phillips.

their domestic market needs. The excess gets shippedout of the country with little consideration for theprice they get for it. In other words, it gets dumped.

In the case of Jamaica, the EU has 4 million Eurodollars in export subsidies to dump surplus milk onother markets. In fact, the EU relies most heavily onsubsidies to back its exports—EU subsidies accountfor about 84 percent of the $7.6 billion used by allexporters in 1998/99. In the 1998/99 year, theEuropean Communities reported spending USD$ 5,843million on export subsidies to the WTO Agreement ofAgriculture. The US spent $147 million. In compari-son, Canada spent less than a million and Australiaspent $1 million.

Dumping may not appear to be such a bad thingfor a poor country—to access relativelycheaper food for its people. But, inmany cases, the poor are farmers whoseaccess to food depends on selling whatthey grow. Sixty percent of humanitylives on less than $2 a day. Seventy-five percent of poor people in the worldlive in rural communities. The realcrisis occurs when they cannot selltheir harvest due to competition withsubsidized farmers in wealthy countries.

Oxfam Canada believes the fewstaple crops that poor countries rely onfor income and local consumption shouldbe protected from dumping. However, global free tradeagreements place severe limits on countries’ ability toprotect their staple crops against food dumping bylarger more wealthy countries. Poor countries canprotect themselves by charging a tariff on incomingproducts that compete directly with their own crops.Yet, the WTO Agreement on Agriculture requires theelimination of all tariffs, to level the trade ‘playingfield.’ Developing countries cannot afford the expen-sive subsidy and domestic support programmes thatdeveloped countries use to promote trade, nor canmost of them afford the other special safeguard meas-ures and exemptions which the WTO allows.

The WTO and its precursor, the General Agreementon Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has never seriously dealtwith dumping of agricultural products. There is ageneral anti-dumping clause, but it defines dumping asexport sales below the ‘normal’ price on the domesticmarket of the producing country, a figure difficult tocorrectly calculate. The country which has been‘dumped on’ also has to prove the actual damage totheir domestic production, also very difficult to prove.Thus the anti-dumping clause rarely gets used bypoorer countries.

Those who do use the anti-dumping clause arethe powerful countries like the US and EU who use itto block access to their markets by products fromdeveloping countries and even Canada.

Dumping is a good example ofhow the operation and implementationof global trade agreements favourthose who already have the economicpower —from richer farmers with newtechnologies and more land, towealthier governments who cansubsidize their farmers, totransnational corporations who makea profit from shipping as the push forincreased trade sees more and moreproducts being shipped across borders.

CONTENTS: FOOD DUMPING — CONTINUED

“[US] grains that are trans-ported to food-deficient countries tend

to create more disruption—through distur-bances in local markets and displacement of

farmers—than the benefits received. Finally, the unsus-tainable methods of production for these grains result inexcessive environmental damage to soil and water. Ex-

port agriculture is, in general, not assisting the USfarmer nor feeding under-nourished populations, but

rather the grain companies that benefit fromthe movement and processing

of these grains.”“U.S. Endeavor to ‘Feed the World’, Implication for Farmer Income,

Food Security and the Environment,” Mark Muller, IATP

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Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:Dumping and Donating:

Food is a basic human right. Whenpeople do not have access to safe,nutritious, adequate and affordable

food, their human rights are being vio-lated.

With today’s corporate-driven foodsystem multinational food companies haveincredible power in the marketplace. Theycan price food out of the reach of poorpeople, build grocery stores that are inac-cessible to families in inner cities withouttransportation and essentially determinewho eats and who does not. With fewaffordable alternatives to turn to andincreasing poverty and under- and unem-ployment, between 5 and 10 per cent ofCanadians use food banks every month.

Food banks, originally set up as anemergency response to local hunger, havedeveloped into permanent institutionswhich are being used more and more acrossthe country. While addressing an immedi-

ate need, food banks are not a solution tohunger and poverty.

To meet the growing demand, foodbanks have partnered with multinationalcorporations such as Nestle, Unilever andPhilip Morris (the three largest food proces-sors in the world). When these corpora-tions have surpluses of foods, they donatethem to food banks for distribution. Thefood bank-corporate dependency thereforegrows and further enshrines food banks inthe Canadian landscape. As Julia Bass,Executive Director of the Canadian Associa-tion of Food Banks in 1997 comments,“With the (social safety) net unravelling,whether you eat or not may depend onwhether or not you live in a generouscommunity.”

(Canadian Grocer, 1997, “Partnerships forChange: How Food Companies are Partnering withFood Relief Agencies and Finding a MutuallyBeneficial Relationship.)

CONTENTS: DUMPING AND DONATING

How Canadian food banks can contribute to anunsustainable global food system.

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In some Canadian provinces, such as BritishColumbia, Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland andLabrador, governments have paved the way for the foodbank-corporate partnership through the passage oflegislation such as the ‘Good Samaritan Act’. Theseacts enable the food industry to ‘dump’ substandardand out-of-date product into food banks with no legalliability for any personal harm that results from con-sumption of these products. Not only do these dona-tions portray the industry as ‘socially responsible’, theyfrequently save the corporations tippage fees associ-ated with disposing of their product in landfill sites.

The Canadian Association of Food Banks recentlypassed a resolution to address the causes of hunger aswell as to provide food aid. In many communities foodbanks have already been integrated into the commu-nity services system, with community kitchens, goodfood boxes, and community buying. It is importantthat food banks not only fill the emergency needs ofhungry people but look at stopping that need. TheDaily Bread, Canada’s largest food bank in Toronto, hasbeen doing research on the reasons why people usefood banks and it is available on their web site,www.dailybread.ca.

Before exploring the individual reasons whypeople are going hungry in Canada, attention needs tobe focussed on the consolidation of the corporate foodsystem that considers food a profitable commodityrather than a basic human right.

At the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome, worldleaders, including Canadians, signed a declaration towork towards food security. According to the declara-tion’s definition, “Food security exists when all peopleat all times have physical and economic access tosufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet theirdietary needs and food preferences for an active andhealthy life.”

By continuing to ignore the Rome declaration’scall for the creation of the ‘political, social and eco-nomic environment for the eradication of poverty’, theCanadian government is failing not only low incomefood bank users but all Canadians. Food security is abasic human right that is indicative of the health andhappiness of a nation. Food distribution should not beabout dumping or donating, but should be aboutensuring the availability, access, adequacy and accept-ability of good food for all and the agency of people toplay a part in developing and implementing thissystem.

CONTENTS: DUMPING AND DONATING: — CONTINUED

1. Weston/ Loblaws/Westfair: Superstore,Loblaws, Loeb, Provigo,IGA, SuperValu, LuckyDollar, Extra Foods, TheReal Canadian WholesaleClub, Your IndependentGrocer, No Frills, Valu-Mart, etc.

2 . Safeway3. Metro-Richelieu4. Empire/Sobeys5. Pattison/Overwaitea

Five companies control food retailing in Canada:Five companies control food retailing in Canada:Five companies control food retailing in Canada:Five companies control food retailing in Canada:Five companies control food retailing in Canada:

(Research by the National Farmers Union, “The Farm Crisis, EU Subsidies, and Agribusiness Market Power, February 2000.)

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Where is it FWhere is it FWhere is it FWhere is it FWhere is it FWhere is it Fair?air?air?air?air?

Farmers/producers in developing coun-tries receive (on average) only 10 percent of the price we pay for coffee and

only 4 per cent of the price we pay forchocolate.

BUT…..Fair trade empowers producers. It

guarantees them a fair return on theirproducts. It also provides individuals theopportunity of becoming socially responsi-ble consumers. With fair trade, consumerspay a more ‘realistic’ price, reflecting theactual cost of production. Fair tradeacknowledges the producers right to meether/his basic needs as well as guaranteeinga commitment to environmentalsustainability.

Alternative Trading Organizations(ATO) were set up over 40 years ago to offerconsumers the opportunity to buy productswhich were bought on the principles of fairtrade. ATOs buy directly from farmers and

artisans at better prices, and help tostrengthen their organizations and markettheir produce directly through their ownshops and catalogues. ATO’s recognize theimportance consumers play in improvingthe situation for producers.

An example of an ATO is TransFairCanada (TFC). It is the only third partyindependent fair trade certification organi-zation in Canada. It is a non-profit organi-zation whose members include majorCanadian churches, trade unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such asOxfam Canada. TFC is the Canadian affiliateof Fairtrade Labeling Organizations Interna-tional (FLO). There are 17 countries thatparticipate under FLO criteria.

Fair trade certifies that small farmersare getting a fair price, credit at reasonablerates of interest and longer-term salescontracts. It also gives consumers a thirdparty assurance that the product is certi-

CONTENTS: WHERE IS IT FAIR?

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fied as fair trade. This does not meanthat non-certified products are not fairlytraded. Some products do not have acertification system or just have notgone through the process of an inde-pendent third party evaluation.

TransFair Canada focuses itsTransFair logo on coffee, the secondmost-traded product in the world afteroil. Over 300 coffee co-ops are now onFLO’s international register of producersin Central America, South America,Africa and Asia.

In Canada right now, coffee and teaare fair trade certified by Transfair and inthe next several months, cocoa and otherproducts such as hot chocolate, choco-late bars and sugar will also be certified.

Other fair trade food productsavailable internationally through FLO areorange juice, honey, and bananas. Thereis also expanding interest in rice, flowers,and several other possibilities are pres-ently in the works.

In response to consumer activismthe demand for fair trade products isgrowing rapidly, and even corporationsare taking it up, debating codes ofconduct, standards, labels, monitoringand other mechanisms to demonstratecorporate social responsibility.

Fairtrade organizations want ethicalconsumers to have more choice. WhenCanadians buying products see the fairtrade label, they know they’re improvinglife for producers, their families andcommunities, as well as contributing toenvironmental sustainability.

CONTENTS: WHERE IS IT FAIR? — CONTINUED

FAIR TRADE CERTIFIEDAIR TRADE CERTIFIED

CERTIFIÉ ÉQUITCERTIFIÉ ÉQUITABLE

Alternative TradingOrganizations in Canada

and GloballyEqual Exchange: www.equalexchange.comEuropean Fair Trade Association:

www.eftafairtrade.orgFairtrade Federation:

www.fairtradefederation.orgInternational Federation for Alternative

Trade: www.ifat.orgLa Siembra Co-operative:

www.lasiembra.comOxfam G.B. — fair trade shopping on-line:http://store1.europe.yahoo.com/oxfam-uk/Oxfam Australia — Community Aid

Abroad: www.caa.org.auPeople Link: www.peoplelink.orgSERRV: www.serrv.orgTen Thousand Villages:

www.tenthousandvillages.caTransfair Canada: http://www.transfair.ca

(Source: http://www.transfair.ca/fairtrade/ato.html)

www.oxfam.ca

Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?Coffee – Who Wins? Who Loses?

Many important changes havetaken place in the global economysince the 1980’s. Most significanthave been the reduction of barriers totrade and foreign investment and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)imposed “restructuring” of nationaleconomic policies in the South. Thecoffee trade, like that of most primarycommodities exports, has been af-fected by these changes.

Throughout the 1980’s an Inter-national Coffee Agreement betweenproducer and consuming countrieshelp regulate the volume of coffeeexports. This helped maintain somestability in revenues for African andLatin American producing countries.But in 1989 US negotiators wereunable to change, in their favor, thequota regime of the InternationalAgreement. The Agreement was notrenewed and prices for raw coffeeplummeted. Coffee prices have beenhighly volatile ever since.

Since the demise of the Interna-tional Coffee Agreement producer

countries have been involved in a race tothe bottom competition. Since 1990 coffeeproduction has increased by 15 per cent.Of course, world demand for coffee has notincreased to the same degree as worldsupply. In the past ten years coffee pro-duction has increased at twice the rate ofconsumption. This has led to a massiveoversupply of coffee beans and sinkingprices.

The deregulation of the coffee marketshas resulted in economic and social hard-ship for poor farmers and countries. Theprices small farmers receive for each kilo ofcoffee beans can vary wildly:

“What has happened to the price ofcoffee is a disaster. Years back, whencoffee prices were good, we could af-ford to send our children to school.Now we are taking our children out ofschool because we cannot afford thefees. How can we send our children toschool when we cannot afford to feedthem well?”

Small coffee farmer in Uru District of Tanzania(Africa)

CONTENTS: COFFEE – WHO WINS? WHO LOSES?

Did You Know . . .• Much of the world’s coffee, tea, cocoa and sugar, foods that we consume every

day, are grown by farmers in the developing world.• Coffee is one of the most highly traded commodities in the world, involving 25

million producers in more than 70 countries.• Approximately 15 million coffee producers are small farmers.• 70% of the coffee market is controlled by just four multinational corporations

—Philip Morris (Kraft), Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, and Sara Lee.• Less than 10% of what consumers pay for coffee reaches the farmer who grows

the beans.

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Coffee plays an essential role in thelives of poor people in many developingcountries. It is estimated that there areabout 25 million producers of the crop,which is often the main—sometimes theonly—source of cash income for a house-hold. Revenues from coffee are used to buyfood items that cannot be produced on thefarm, to pay for school fees and healthcare, and to meet other cash expenses,such as the purchase of agricultural inputs.

Millions of vulnerable farmers andlaborers involved in coffee production,have had their livelihood devastated by acollapse in international prices. Most smallcoffee farmers grow their crop on familyland. Having little capacity to export theirproduct and compete in the global market,for lack of funds and resources, most selltheir crops to mid-level traders (commonlycalled “coyotes” in Central America). Thesecoyotes have a tight hold on their territo-ries and under the current system of trade,very little of what consumers pay forcoffee, often less than 10%, actuallyreaches the farmer. Without adequateincome, these families are unable to obtainadequate food, water, health care or educa-tion—and often end up losing their land.As well, many farmers have been forced tosell assets, such as cattle, and cut down onessential expenses by taking their childrenout of school or even reducing food con-sumption.

The price slump has created somewinners. The multinational corporationand ‘designer coffee’ retailers are postingrecord profits as the price of their main rawmaterial slumps. Over the past three years,the export price of coffee as a proportion ofthe retail price has fallen by half, to lessthan 7%. This is good news for some. As a

recent Nestle document on its coffee-trading performance states: “trading profitsincreased … and margins improved thanksto favorable commodity prices”. The badnews is that corporate gain is consigningsome of the world’s poorest and mostvulnerable people to extreme poverty.

“The coffee market cannot sacrifice mil-lions of poor farmers—Nobody shouldforget that it is precisely these poorfarmers who, with their hard work,have fostered not only the growth oftheir sector, but the wealth of theworld coffee industry.”

Jorge Cardenas, President of Colombia’s NationalCoffee Growers’ Federation

Instead of seeking to generate wind-fall profits by exploiting small farmers, thecorporate sector, Nestle, Philip Morris andothers, should acknowledge its responsibil-ity to help facilitate the development of amore equitable trading environment. Thesemultinationals must adopt fair and ethicalpractices in production, purchasing,processing and distribution.

This page has been in part provided by theCanadian Council for International Cooperation’s(CCIC) In Common Program:www.incommon.web.net

CONTENTS: COFFEE – WHO WINS? WHO LOSES? — CONTINUED

www.oxfam.ca

Children’s brains aredamaged by chemicalfarming

In Mexico, more evidence has beenfound that the heavy use of agriculturalpesticides has dramatically impaired devel-opment of pre-school children (see NI 323

on Pesticides). Elizabeth Guillette, a Univer-sity of Arizona medical anthropologist,studied 50 children and their familiesliving in the Yaqui Valley lowlands andhighlands of Sonora, Mexico. In the in-tensely farmed lowlands, farmers applypesticides 45 times per crop cycle and theygrow one or two crops per year. Pesticidesusing compounds such as lindane andendrin, which are banned in the US, arefrequently used. Researchers from theTechnological Institute of Sonora foundthat lowland children were born withdetectable concentrations of many pesti-cides in their blood and were furtherexposed through drinking breast milk.

The highland families live moretraditional lives, rejecting the use of pesti-cides and modern agricultural practices.Their only major exposure to pesticidescomes from government spraying of DDT tocontrol malaria.

By studying the lowland and highlandgroups of children who share the samegene pool, Guillette was able to assess thedevelopmental differences between groups.Fifty children from both regions were givenstraightforward motor and cognitive tests

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CONTENTS: POISONED YOUTH

to perform. Guillette had anticipated thedifferences between the two groups wouldbe subtle but instead she was shocked. Thevalley children demonstrated less stamina,hand-eye co-ordination and short-termmemory. The most striking difference wasin the figures the children drew (see pic-ture above). Most of the pictures the high-land children drew looked like recognizablepeople but the drawings by the lowlanderswere merely scribbles.

Guillette says her findings give cre-dence to reports that children growing upin areas with high levels of pesticide usehave impaired learning and physical skills.The adverse effect of pesticides on humandevelopment is widespread, she says: ‘Idon’t think the kids’ exposures are eithermore or less than might occur in otheragricultural areas—even in developedcountries.’

(Barbara Salgado— New Internationalist 326,August 2000)

PPPPPoisoned Yoisoned Yoisoned Yoisoned Yoisoned Yoisoned Youthouthouthouthouth

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In the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania,where 1.4 million people live, coffee isthe main cash crop cultivated by small

farmers. Kilimanjaro used to be one of thebetter off regions in the country. Its socialindicators reflect the positive impact of thecoffee boom, with literacy reaching 95%and a higher than average nutritionalstatus in the rural areas. The incidenceand severity of poverty are much lowerthan the national average.

But this success story is now underthreat. Farm-gate prices have fallen by halfin two years (down to 27 US cents/lb) andhouseholds repeatedly stress how thedecline of the coffee economy has intensi-fied poverty and increased vulnerability.

The coffee crisis has led to a reductionin school enrollment among coffee-farmingcommunities. The average annual cost ofsending a single child to school in the areais over $10 US, and with most familieshaving four or five children, the cashdemands of education impose considerablehardship.

Tatu Museyni, a 37-year old widow, isa small coffee farmer. She lives with hersix children on a farm of less than one acrein a mud hut without running water orelectricity. She struggles to give an educa-tion to her children. “Education is veryimportant. It will help my children to havea better life. That is why I struggle so hardto find the money they need to go toschool.” But this year her entire coffeecrop has generated less than $15 US. Shehad planned to send her third child, Isaiah,aged nine, to primary school, but this is nolonger an option. “He will have to stay athome because I could not get enough forthe coffee. Just to keep the other two inschool I would have to sell my pig.” Tatuplans to sell some of her bananas to raisecash, although she is worried that herchildren’s nutrition will suffer. She willalso try to find employment on other farms(earning about $1 US) a day) as well ascollect and sell grass as cattle feed.

This illustrates how falling coffeeprices can have the twin effect of under-mining household food security and addingto the already extreme labor burden onwomen. Like other women interviewed,Tatu expressed fears of being unable tomeet the costs of sickness episodes, espe-cially if any of her children fall ill withpneumonia, malaria, or diarrhoea duringthe rainy season.

Source: Research carried out by Maarifa andOxfam GB in December 2000 in Kilimanjaro, takenMaarifa (2001) ‘Cost-sharing in Education: A CaseStudy of Education in Kilimanjaro’.

Case Study

TTTTTanzania:anzania:anzania:anzania:anzania:

CONTENTS: CASE STUDY — TANZANIA

CoffeeCoffeeCoffeeCoffeeCoffee — Winners and L — Winners and L — Winners and L — Winners and L — Winners and Losers:osers:osers:osers:osers:

Source: “Bitter Coffee: How the Poor arePaying for the Slump in Coffee Prices.” Oxfam Great Britain (2001)

Coffee-farming families can no longer affordto send their children to school

In February 2001

Nestle reported a

rise in profits of

20%, with the

beverage sector

performing

strongly.

Starbucksposted a 41%

increase in

profits in the

first quarter of

2001.

In 1997world coffee sales

reached$43 billion (U.S.) Developing countriesthat produced thecoffee received less

than one thirdof this revenue.

www.oxfam.ca

Hundee, which means ‘root,’ inOromiffa, is a local communitydevelopment organization in Ethio-

pia. Started in 1995, Hundee’s programmesare focused in the Oromiya Region, wherehigh illiteracy rates, poor infrastructure,and landlessness are common due to ahistory of political and ethnic discrimina-tion. Hundee developed a co-operative ofeight peasant farmers’ associations in theregion who had been historicallymarginalized by the former Ethiopiangovernment for political and ethnic reasons.

Hundee’s work integrates three pro-gramme activities: credit and savings,environmental rehabilitation and protec-tion, and civic education. Priority is givento working with female-headed householdsand very poor landless families as the first

step in its goal of mobilizing citizens toparticipate in increasing self-sufficiencyin food production.

The goal of the credit and savingsprogramme is to generate basic workingcapital while increasing poor people’sability to access the money and manage itthemselves. It also teaches and exercisesbusiness principles, such as supply anddemand and financial training, to the 100women and 100 poor households whoparticipate in the programme.

One concrete way this is achieved isthrough the development of cereal grainbank associations. In addition to provid-ing a means of income generation, theyinclude activities related to Environmen-tal rehabilitation and protection and civiceducation.

The importance of the cerealgrain banks is to ensure house-holds have access to grain foreating between harvest times,when communities often facesevere food shortages. The‘hungry months,’ as HundeeDirector Ato Zegeye Asfaw callsthem, are June through toSeptember. The development ofthe grain banks was done in away that involved the communi-ties and taught them how tomanage and maintain the bankaccording to their own needs.The two cereal grain banks helpto organize 600 poor households.Revolving funds are used to

HUNDEE – Oromiya, EthiopiaHUNDEE – Oromiya, EthiopiaHUNDEE – Oromiya, EthiopiaHUNDEE – Oromiya, EthiopiaHUNDEE – Oromiya, EthiopiaHUNDEE – Oromiya, Ethiopia

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purchase grains during the harvestseason when prices are low.Grain stores with a capacity of100 tons of grains are built foreach bank. The cereal grain issold to members as well as non-

members during the food short-age months with the benefits

going to the association to payback the loan. Training is also being

provided to enhance members’ understand-ing of the philosophy behind the cerealbank association and its operational proce-dures. In the first phase of the CerealBanks Association project, 237 registeredfarmers successfully purchased and stockedgrain during times of plenty and sold itduring periods of scarcity. This allowedfarmers to participate in the process ofprice regulation at the local level for the‘commodity’. Also, by stocking surplusgrain and selling it when there was ascarcity, the farmers supplied food to theircommunities that would have been tradi-tionally hunger stricken.

One of the long-term goals of theproject is to broaden the accessibility ofthis kind of project and build a significantinfluence on market prices by helpingfarmers unite and question the basis ofhigh government taxation on produce.Currently, the regional government iscompelled to raise 90 per-cent of its rev-

enues through taxation on farm produce.This places a great deal of burden on thefarmers, and often forces them to sell theirproduce for low prices in order to raisemoney to pay taxes. Another problem isthe deadline for tax payment which is justafter harvest, so most farmers pay all theyearn in taxes and are left with very little toreinvest in agricultural inputs for thefollowing year.

By increasing the number of farmersparticipating in cereal banks and learningabout their regional and national economicstructures, Hundee hopes to make changesto the agricultural system that will improvepeople’s livelihoods in the long term.

PROJECT PROFILES: HUNDEE — CONTINUED

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Dabane TDabane TDabane TDabane TDabane TDabane Trust — Zimbabwerust — Zimbabwerust — Zimbabwerust — Zimbabwerust — Zimbabwerust — Zimbabwe

households per community. The organiza-tion provides community organizers whowork and live in the communities, and actas liaisons between the communities andDabane.

The programme is committed to theestablishment of long term, sustainableprojects. There is a high level of commu-nity participation that results from thetrust and understanding established be-tween community members and DabaneTrust workers. Together they assess thecommunities’ needs and map out a processthat allows them to reach their communitygoals. Community members are empoweredthrough their involvement in this planningand decision making process.

One of the key aspects of Dabane’swork over the past several years has beenthe development of family and communitygardens. Community members participateand acquire expertise in all aspects ofgarden development, from planning, organ-izing and construction through to themarketing of garden produce. The organiza-tion assists communities in establishing

THE NEW MILLENNIUM has so far beenone of ill fate for the SouthernAfrican nation of Zimbabwe, now

sliding into “poorest nations of the world”status. Both unemployment and civil unrestare escalating at an alarming rate. Add tothis years of low rainfall interspersed withsevere droughts, destruction of propertyand crops caused by Cyclone Eline last year,and what results is a country faced with afood crisis. Continued lack of water isconsidered the main factor inhibiting thedevelopment of a sustainable food produc-tion base in Zimbabwe.

Dabane Trust evolved from the need toimprove the water and food security sys-tems of rural people. The organizationworks in two regions: on the border withZambia, in an area called Binga; and in anarea called Matobo, on the border of Bot-swana. Dabane works with approximately20 - 25 communities that average about six

PROJECT PROFILES: DABANE TRUST

www.oxfam.ca

irrigated, family gardens through usingtechniques such as dam-building, water-harvesting, and an indigenous water ex-traction technique called sand-abstraction.

As a part of its food preservation andprocessing work, the programme encour-ages community members to lease, serviceand maintain grain dehulling and grindingmill units. This provides the communitieswith a source of flour for local use as wellas income through sales at nearby markets.Emphasis is also placed on growing andstorage of indigenous, drought-tolerantgrains. Research is also being undertakenon different methods of crop drying.Sound conservation practices are promotedin all phases of the programme.

The family and community gardensprovide women, the main users of thegardens, with independence, income,increased nutrition for themselves andtheir families, and increased confidence tomanage their own affairs.

Dabane Trust maintains a strong focuson social development. Its work encour-

PROJECT PROFILES: DABANE TRUST — CONTINUED

ages cohesion and a strong group structurewithin the community, while developingappropriate practical training and businessmanagement skills among communitymembers. This ensures the viability andsustainability of local resources, as well aslasting results for the community. In theface of drought, poverty and unrest,Dabane Trust is making a positive andenduring contribution to Zimbabwe’s ruralcommunities

Typically, the programme will operatefor three years within a community untilthe group becomes independent and nolonger requires Dabane’s aid or input.

�������������� �������The origin of coffee can be traced to Ethiopia in Africa around the time 800 A.D.. However it was

in Arabia, around 1000 A.D., where roasted beans were first brewed. Eventually coffee was introduced toIndia, Europe and, in the 1700s, to Latin America.

Most of the coffee we drink today is produced in countries such asBrazil and Colombia. Yet the spread of coffee continues. In 1990 Viet-nam was an insignificant exporter of coffee. However with financialassistance from the World Bank and other agencies, things changeddramatically. Today Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporterof coffee.

Overall coffee production has increased 15 per cent since 1990.This has been accompanied with a decrease in the price for the crop.For the small coffee farmer and those countries that rely on coffeeexports for their hard currency this has had devastating consequences.

www.oxfam.ca

A WA WA WA WA WA World in Jeopardy Gameorld in Jeopardy Gameorld in Jeopardy Gameorld in Jeopardy Gameorld in Jeopardy Gameorld in Jeopardy Game

STEP 1 — MODERATOR’S ROLE

• sets up transparency and overhead.• selects three judges, and one scorekeeper.• divides the class into 3 teams.• demonstrates to the group, how to correctly respond.

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• if no one answers in 20 seconds, the moderator allows2 minutes for groups to consult.

STEP 2 — ROLE OF PARTICIPANTS

• each member of a team must have a number (eg. 1 -8), and answer questions consecutively (ie. all the“1’s” from each team, then all the “2’s”...etc.).

• to answer a question, a participant must “buzz-in” firstby yelling “JEOPARDY!”.

• If no one answers, teams must work together to comeup with an answer.

STEP 3 — ROLE OF JUDGES AND SCOREKEEPER

• ¨JUDGES determine who responded first, and what is acorrect answer.

• ¨the SCOREKEEPER keeps a tally of team score on theblackboard.

SCORING

• if teams give a correct answer, the amount for thatquestion (100 - 500) is added to the score. If theanswer is incorrect the amount is subtracted.

• the team with the highest score at the end of the gamewins.

The Game and The Rules WHY PLAY THIS GAME/RATIONALE

‘A World in Jeopardy’ is organized asa participatory way of learning about

some of the complexities of thefood system and related issues.

We have provided one version of howto play the game — the class may,however, find new ways of playing

the game (for those motivated enough,the game can even be adapted for

a public fundraising exercise).

A World In Jeopardy

The title “A World in Jeopardy”refers to a world where 800

million people are chronicallyundernourished, and millions moreare denied their basic rights toshelter, clean water, employment,and a say in their future. Withouta fundamental reversal of the waywe use and share our resources,the lives of billions of people willenter this World in Jeopardy.

Playing “A World in Jeopardy”will hopefully allow you to learnmore about the realities of povertyand hunger in the world today.

QUIZZES AND EXERCISES: A WORLD IN JEOPARDY GAME

DEBT

200

100

300

400

500

A WORLD IN JEOPARDYFood Quiz 2001

Note to Presenter:Copy to transparency

“If every person in China ate one more chicken a year,it would require the entire soybean production of theState of Illinois to feed those chickens.“

Food For

Thought

TRADE ANDHUNGER

Over a billion peoplein the world live inthis condition.

CommunityGardens, foodcooperatives, andgood food boxesare some smallscale initiatives thatincrease this locally.

The U.N. has statedthat getting enoughto eat, equalopportunities, alivelihood, and a sayin the future arethese.

When people do nothave access to safe,nutritious andculturally acceptablefood, they sufferfrom this.

This nonprofitcompany is workingfor the fairer tradeof products inglobal markets.

COFFEE

This continent isthe world's largestcoffee producer.

Coffee is thesecond to this mosttraded Internationalproduct.

There are this manycoffee coops on theFair Trade LabelingOrganisationsinternational (FLO)register.

This form of 'trade'deals directly withdemocratically runcooperatives, givesfarmers a fair price,offers affordable credit,and establishes longterm relationships

As well as coffee,these twobeverages arefairly traded.

BANANAS

Latin Americaproduces thispercent of theworld's bananas.

People from thesetwo continents arethe world's biggestbanana consumers.

One of the fivecompanies whichhave the largestshare in the worldproduction ofbananas.

90% of this part of theCaribbean ecosystemis dead, largely as aresult of the pesticiderunoff into streams andrivers from bananaplantations.

For every dollarspent on bananas,this much goes tothe producer.

AGRICULTUREAND TRADE

This part of theCanadian economyhas returned toDepression eralevels.In 1998, Cargill,

Philip Morris, andNestle made over$200 billion dollarsin revenue while thetotal Canadian grossfarm revenues wereonly this much.

Canada, the E.U.,U.S., Argentina, andAustralia account for87% percent of thismono cropproduction.

Most aspects of foodproduction, such asfertilizers, seeds, andprocessing, arecontrolled by thismany or fewercorporations.

The United Nationsand the Food andAgricultureOrganization setaside October 16theach year torecognize this.

THE FTAA

The process thatintegrates worldmarkets for goods,services and finance.

Corporations thatcross nationalboundaries in theirfields of operation(production,financing or sales).

The FTAA, which willincorporate countriesfrom Latin America(except Cuba), is anexpansion of thisolder tradingagreement.

What FTAAstands for.

This type of tradeallows companiesto operate withouttaxes or tariffs.

GMO’s

This companycreated a seed thatprevents plantsfrom reproducing.

A term for themonopolisation ofplant geneticresources and rightsto their productionand marketing.

This Canadian cityis one of theleading centres ofbiotechnology.

The variety ofgenes and cropsessential inensuring worldfood security andsovereignty.

One of four massproduced cropsthat are RoundupReady.

www.oxfam.ca

True or False Questions

1. People are hungry because the world does notproduce enough food.

2. Food and a livelihood are basic human rights.3. Almost 10% of people in the developing world do

not have access to clean water.4. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism.5. For a $3.03 box of cornflakes, the farmer who grows

the corn gets ten cents.6. TransFair Canada is the only third party independent

fair trade certification organization in Canada.7. The number of people in the developing world who

are undernourished continues to grow each year.8. Wheat and tobacco are Canadian cash crops grown

for export.

9. According to the United Nations Food and Agricul-ture Organization (FAO), 80 million people aremalnourished.

10. The promotion of cash cropping on a global scalehas contributed to soil erosion, pollution of watertables by fertilizers and pesticides, and deforesta-tion.

11. Between 5 and 10 % of Canadians use food bankseach month.

12. In 1995, Third world debt reached $200 billion.13. In the developing world, nearly 60% of people

work in agriculture.14. Equador exports more bananas than any other

country.15. Lower food prices are always good for developing

nations.16. Nestle, Unilever, and Philip Morris are the three

largest food processors in the world17. Forty percent of humanity relies on less than $2 a

day.18. Pesticides kill thousands of workers every year.19. Dole, Chiquita, and Del Monte control nearly 70%

of world trade in bananas.20. Canada imports more coffee than any other country.

The Questions of FoodThe Questions of FoodThe Questions of FoodThe Questions of FoodThe Questions of FoodThe Questions of Food

QUIZZES AND EXERCISES THE QUESTIONS OF FOOD

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1. False. The world does produce enoughfood to feed every person, every day.

2. True3. False. In fact, one third of people in the

developing world have no access to cleanwater.

4. True5. True6. True7. False. The number is reducing at a rate of

about 8 million a year. However, withalmost 800 million people in the develop-ing world without enough to eat, the rateof reduction is too slow.

8. True9. False. In fact, the FAO reports that 800

million people are malnourished.

Trade and Hunger1. What is poverty?2. What is food security?3. What are basic human

rights?4. What is food insecurity?5. What is FairTrade Label-

ling Organisations Inter-national?

Coffee1. What is South America?2. What is oil?3. What is 300?4. What is Fair Trade?5. What are tea and orange

juice?

QUIZZES AND EXERCISES: ANSWERS

Answers to:Answers to:Answers to:Answers to:Answers to:Answers to:

Bananas1. What is 83%?2. What are Europe and

North America?3. What are Chiquita, Dole,

Delmonte, Fyffes, orNoboa?

4. What are coral reefs?5. What is 5 cents?

Agriculture and Trade1. What are farm incomes?2. What is $29 billion?3. What is wheat?4. What is 5?5. What is World Food Day?

10. True.11. True.12. False. In 1995, third world debt

reached $200 trillion.13. True15. False. Sometimes, lower food prices

simply put farmers out of business.16. True17. False. 60% lives on less than $2 a day.18. True. Pesticides have been shown to be

responsible for the deaths of over200,000 workers annually.

19. True20. False. The United States imports the

most coffee.

The FTAA1. What is globalisation?2. What are Multi-national (Transnational)

corporations?3. What is NAFTA (The North American Free

Trade Agreement)? The agreement cameinto affect in 1994. The FTAA is scheduledto come into affect 2004.

4. What is Free Trade Area of the Americas?5. What is Free Trade?

GMO´s1. What is Monsanto?2. What is Biopiracy?3. What is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan?4. What is Bio-diversity?5. What are soybean, corn, canola, or cotton?

A World in Jeopardy

THE QUESTIONS OF FOOD

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From Mathematics to LiteratureFrom Mathematics to Literature

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1. Many developing countries have agriculturaleconomies, yet there is great hunger and malnutri-tion. What is the principal reason for this?a. crop failure due to natural disastersb. exportation of cash cropsc. the unequal distribution of wealthd. wars and civil unrest

2. Which country gives the greatest percentage oftheir gross domestic product (GDP) to aid develop-ing countries?a. United Statesb. Denmarkc. Russiad. Saudi Arabia

3. Food has always been a commodity to be boughtand sold for profit.a. Trueb. False

4. The world now produces enough food to feedevery man, woman and child by North AmericanStandards.a. Trueb. False

5. In 1995, the debt of developing countries reached$200 billion.a. Trueb. False

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1. Out of the 4.4 billion people living in developingcountries, 3/5 lack access to basic sanitation, 1/3 haveno access to clean water, 1/4 do not have adequatehousing, 1/5 do not have access to modern healthservices, 1/5 do not attend school to grade five and 1/5 do not have enough dietary energy and protein. Howmany people do not have each of these resources andservices?

2. Almost 800 million people in the developing world donot have enough to eat, however this number is reduc-ing by about 8 million per year. A goal was set at theWorld Food Summit in 1996 to reduce the number ofundernourished people to 400 million by the year 2015.Will the goal be reached?

3. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 28 countries lost ground in thefight to reduce the number of undernourished people,while 10 countries made progress. Latin America andthe Caribbean saw a 2:1 ratio as 16 countries lostground and 8 made progress. In Asia, 10 countriesmade progress while 8 lost ground. What is the overallratio of countries who lost ground in reducing thenumber of undernourished people to countries whomade progress?

4. Globally, over 1.3 billion people live in absolute pov-erty, that’s 25% of the world’s population. Every 60seconds, 47 people join the already enormous number.Draw a graph representing the increase of the numberof people living in poverty vs. time, over ten minutes.

5. 358 people have the same net worth as the bottom45% (2.3 billion people).

a. Trueb. False

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Questions:1. Using examples of imagery in the poem,

what are some causes of hunger?

2. What are the direct effects of poverty onthe people who experience it?

3. Relate the title to the theme of the poem.

4. Dreams can often carry with them mes-sages or lessons about life. In line 9, thewriter makes reference to dreams and theirability to haunt. Discuss the emotionalimpact that hunger can have on humans.

5. How are hope and expectancy effective tothe poem?

Poem:Line Wait — taken from the Coalition for Global Solidarity

and Social Development

1 Wait and you will see what we have promised youAs your fields dry upYour cattle diesAnd when you have nothing left

5 And when your world is broken around youWait.Wait...as your children grow hungryAs your family starvesAnd their cries, the cries of the forgotten, the disap-peared, haunt you in your dreams

10 And when they take from you what you have workedforAnd when the dreams of your future, and the memoryof your past, grind into ashesWait.Wait...as the life slips from your fingersAs your friends and family

15 Disappear into the windAnd when they remove you from your landAnd you are left without a homeWait.Wait...as you see the earth suffering

20 The rivers run dryThe soil turning to desertWait...as blood covers the landThe blood of the animals,and people we have slaughtered

25 Wait...until there is nothing leftUntil everything has been taken from youAnd everything is brokenWait...Keep waiting...

30 Just a little more...And if you begin to doubt...Don’t worry.Wait.And modernity

35 Progress, will bring all that we have promised you.Even if there is no onenothingleft to enjoy it

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1. En 1948, les Nations Unies ontproduit un document appelé laDéclaration Universelle desDroits de l’Homme. Elle énonceles droites qui devraient êtreaccordées à tous les êtreshumains; les dix droitsfondamentaux sont asse’àmanger, l’eau propre, unemaison, santé, éducation, unevie, un environnement sûr,protection contre la violence,égalite des chances et uneparole dans leur futur. Écrivezune explication de breif,associant toute la ces derniersà la faim du monde.

2. a) Les hommes sontprincipalement responsablesd’obtenir la nourriture à nostables.

VraiFaux

b) Comment la faim avec desfemmes est-elle différente de lafaim avec les hommes? Quelsdocuments, des conventions oudes jours speciaux ont étéécrits l’égalité de support entreles hommes et les femmes, danstous les aspects de la vie?

3. La révolution verte est le termeutilisé pour le développementdans les années 70 de nouvellesvariétés de hauts riz derendement, maïs de blé et sorgho.Cette production non seulementconsidérablement accrue denourriture par hectare, maiségalement raccourci la période dela croissance, laissant de ce faitun plus de cycle de croissance paran. Cependant, la révolution verteapportée avec elle plus dechômage, plus d’abandon de terrepar les pauvres et de plus affamé.

Pourquoi?a. Les techniques sophistiquées

d’irrigation exigées parrévolution verte que les pauvresne pourraient pas payer

b. À l’achat des graines, del’engrais et des pesticidesspéciaux ont fait entrer dans ladette et détruire finalement depauvres fermiers leur nourritureen surplus de la terre

c. Ont signifié que les prix sontdescendus. Les pauvres fermiersn’achetant pas dans larévolution verte ne pourraientpas concurrencer les grandescompagnies

d. Certains pays, comme le Brésil,les Philippines et en Indonésie,le gouvernement simplement asuccédé toutes les fermes depetit de fermiers

e. De ce qui précède

4. Selon à l’Organisation deNourriture et d’Agriculture desNations Unies (la ONA), 80millions de personnes sontsous-alimenté.

VraiFaux

5. Dette — la pauvreté induitefait exploiter des personnesdans les pays en voie dedéveloppement ces derniers dela voie la plus profitable etmoindre la plus soutenable

VraiFaux

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1. In 1948, the United Nations produced a documentcalled the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Itstates the rights that should be granted to all humanbeings; the ten basic rights are enough to eat, cleanwater, a home, health care, education, a livelihood, asafe environment, protection from violence, equality ofopportunity and a say in their future. With a briefexplanation, relate all of these rights to world hunger.

2. a) Men are primarily responsible for getting food toour tables

TrueFalse

b) How does hunger affect women differently thanmen? What documents have been written that supportequality between men and women, in all aspects oflife?

3. The Green Revolution is the term used for the develop-ment in the 1970’s of new varieties of high yield rice,wheat, corn and sorghum. This not only considerablyincreased food production per hectare, but also short-ened the period of growth, thereby allowing one moregrowth cycle per year. Yet, the Green Revolutionbrought with it more unemployment, more abandon-

ment of land by the poor and more hungry. Why?

a. The Green Revolution required sophisticatedirrigation techniques which the poor could notpay for

b. The purchase of special seeds, fertilizer andpesticides caused poor farmers to go into debtand finally lose their land

c. Surplus food meant that the prices went down.Poor farmers not buying into the Green Revolu-tion could not compete with large companies

d. In certain countries, such as Brazil, the Philip-pines and Indonesia, the government simplyexpropriated or took over the farms of smallfarmers

e. All of the above

4. According to the United Nations Food and Agricul-ture Organization (FAO), 800 million people aremalnourished.a. Trueb. False

5. Debt - induced poverty causes people in developingcountries to exploit these in the most profitableand least sustainable way.

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1. A lack of this vitamin in their diet causes blindness ina quarter of a million children each year.

2. Hunger is defined as a condition in which people donot get enough food to provide the nutrients theyneed for fully productive, active, healthy lives. Whatare these six main nutrients?

3. Only one type of life form can make its own food.What type of life is this?

a. Bacteria c. Plant

b. Virus d. Animal

4. Today, human kind consumes 40% of plant growtheach year, with 60% going to all other species.

a. True b. False

5. Vitamin A, iron and iodine are examples of micronutrients.

a. True b. False

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1. 3/5 x 4.4 billion = 2.64 billion

2.64 billion people do not have access to basicsanitation.

1/3 x 4.4 billion = 1.46 billion

1.46 billion people do not have access to cleanwater.

1/4 x 4.4 billion = 1.1 billion

1.1 billion people do not have adequate housing. 1/5 x 4.4 billion = 880 million

880 million people to not have access to modernhealth services.

1/5 x 4.4 billion = 880 million

880 million people do not attend school to gradefive.

1/5 x 4.4 billion = 880 million

880 million people do not have enough dietaryenergy and protein.

These startling, but true statistics, put intoperspective how many people in our world lack basic,ordinary resources and services that we take forgranted. Yet, the three richest people in the worldhave assets that exceed the combined gross domesticproduct (GDP) of the 48 least developed countries. Inmany international declarations and conventions,world leaders have promised to provide ‘health for all’,‘education for all’, and ‘food for all’. However, thesemillions and millions of people continue to live,lacking health care, education, food, water and manyother necessities.

2. 20 years x 8 million / year = 160 million 800 million - 160 million = 640 million

The goal will not be reached.

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3. Ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa - 28:10 = 14:5 Ratio in Latin America/Caribbean - 16:8 = 2:1 Ratio in Asia - 10:8 = 5:4 Total ratio - 54:26 = 27:13

There is almost a 2:1 ratio between the countries thatlost ground in reducing the number of undernourishedpeople to the countries that made progress.Although, this is a ratio of countries that are mainlyin the developing world, there are another 34 millionpeople who live in industrialized countries and coun-tries that are in transition who also suffer from foodinsecurity.

4. Poverty can be caused by many things, such as vio-lence, unemployment and underemployment, andreduced state support for health care, education, cleanwater, sanitation and other social programs. Theunderlying cause of poverty is denying millions ofpeople their basic human rights.

5. a. TrueThis figure seems to be an enormous contrast to aworld of unprecedented technological advances and inwhich global economic wealth has increased sevenfoldin the past five decades.

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1. In the poem, Wait, the writer usesspecific imagery to relate somecauses of hunger to his audience.For example, in lines 19-21, ittalks about the earth dying, thewater being dried up anddesertification occurring. Thistells us that drought or othernatural disasters or occurrencescan be causes of hunger andpoverty. Also, in the lines tofollow (lines 22-24) there isreference made to bloodshed,which is telling us that war isalso a cause.

Although the poem only talksabout two causes of poverty orhunger there are many more, suchas unemployment and underem-ployment, reduced support forhealth care, education, cleanwater, sanitation and other socialprograms.

2. For those who experience poverty,life shatters before their eyes asthey watch their livelihood disap-pear (lines 2-3), loved ones sufferand die (lines 7-8), and therealization that their dreams andgoals will not be achieved (line11). Overall, they watch every-thing they ever worked for orloved ripped from their possessionand disappear (lines 25-27).

3. The title of this poem is verysignificant for two main reasons.First of all, the incredible hopeand expectancy that those inpoverty must have is summed upin the word, wait. The power tomake their lives better, for themand their family, is no longer withthem and now they experience thesurrendering of themselves tosomething greater to rescue themfrom their desolate state. But, fornow, they must wait. So, what isthis greater force that they arewaiting upon? Well, this brings usto the second part; we are thesecond part. Anyone of us who isin any position to change thelives of those living in poverty,we, too, wait; for no real reason,but we do. This poem is alsomaking a plea for help on behalfof those living in poverty—for usto realize that we can make adifference, and actually do so. Thewriter hints at this in line 9, asthe word ‘forgotten’ is used,giving the impression that wehave been waiting so long thatwe forgot them. In conclusion,the theme is that the longer wewait and the longer we do notmake a difference, the longermore lives are shattering andpeople are dying, waiting for us.

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4. Emotionally, hunger and povertycan take an immense toll on aperson. Watching one’s family die,can cause feelings of grief andguilt in a person. The individualhas to deal with the pain oflosing loved ones and the guiltthat in some way it could havebeen prevented, although circum-stances are beyond them. Theyperhaps worry about when theirlives will end and how muchlonger they can tolerate theuncertainty. There can also befeelings of betraying one’s ances-tors and family by not providingand being successful with theland.

5. Hope and expectancy are twowords which provoke a positivefeeling and this poem’s mood isno different. Although, the livesof those living in poverty issurrounded with horrific sights,terrible feelings and embracedwith desolate circumstances, theone piece of assurance they cancling to is their hope. They cananticipate things getting betterand put all of their trust in thefuture. At the end of the poem,the poet states that, if nothingelse, progress will bring themwhat has been promised to themand even if they do not see it, atleast they died hoping.

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Note: all questions in this section are open to interpretation, so these answers are notnecessarily the right ones, but one persons point of view on them

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1. Assez pour manger — quand quelqu’un avoir faim,nier droite pour avoir assez pour mangerPropre eau — eau non seulement pour accroîtrecollecte pour manger, mais également nécessaire pournettoyage et préparation nourritureLa maison — si quelqu’un trop pauvre pour prendrenourriture, puis fréquent trop pauvre pour avoir lesmoyens un maison. La faim empêche également und’avoir la résistance physique pour se construire unemaison ou un endroit à vivreSanté — les médecines et les vitamines droites sontseulement pertinentes avec uneéducation appropriée de régimeEducation — avec instruire et l’éducation appropriéesvient occasion accrue de produire du revenu et doncde fixer un futur sûr et faim-libre. Faim égalementempêcher un individuals capacité pour apprendreA vie — souvent un simple vie actionner un fermepouvoir ééliminer faim chez un famille, fournirnourriture aussi bien que un revenu et un futurA sûr environnement — un sûr environementpouvoir premier étape vers un agricole vieProtection contre la violence — guerre souvent undirect cause pauvreté et faim, quand un protéger ceci,là un moins chance éprouver pauvreté et faimÉgalite des chances — beaucoup de groupe nonrecevoir assez nourriture simple parce que unminoritéé, par exemple femme, enfant, unité defeuillets magnétiques, social classe, etc...Une parole dans leur futur — la réalité est que queles affamés sont niés cette droite parce qu’elles nepourraient pas avoir un futur

2. a) Dans tout le monde en voie de développement lesfemmes rurales fournissent la majeure partie du travailpour cultiver — travaillant les zones et lesenregistrant, les manipulant, vente et traitant descollectes. Selon la Nourriture une Organisation

d’Agriculture, dans sub-Saharan Afrique et lesCaraïbes, les femmes produisent jusqu’ à 80% desproduits alimentaires de base. Au Canada, les femmesexpliquent plus que 50% de tout le travail de ferme.

b) Dans beaucoup de cultures les femmes sont souvent lebout à manger dans leurs familles et en fait à aller endehors s’ il y a un manque de nourriture. Ceci acomme conséquence les mères sous-allimentéesdonnant naissance à de bas bébés de poids denaissance. Les documents qui ont été écritsenchâssant des droites de femmes sont la DéclarationUniverselle des Droits de l’Homme, et le Women 2000:egalitéé, développement et paix de genre pour lepremier siècle vingt. (par les Nations Unies) et lesconventions qui ont été tenues sont la convention desNations Unis pour l’élimination de la discriminationcontre des femmes. Il y a également un Jour Interna-tional de Femmes qui a lieu mars 8 et un Jour Interna-tional pour l’Elimination de la Violence contre desfemmes, qui a lieu le 25 novembre.

3. e. tout l’au-dessusD’une conséquence imprévue de la révolution verte aété la faillite de petits fermiers. Par exemple, en Inde,avant la révolution verte, approximativement 18% despersonnes rurales n’a eu aucune terre du tout. Après larévolution verte des années 70, 33% des personnesrurales n’a possédé aucune terre. Qui a profité plus dela révolution verte? Grandes compagniesmultinationales de nourriture qui pouvaient faire lesinvestissements initiaux dans les graines, les pesti-cides, les engrais et l’irrigation.

4. FauxSelon la FAO, 800 millions de personnes dans lemonde entier sont sous-alimentés.

5. Quelles sont les ressources naturelles?

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1. When vitamin A is lacking in a child’s diet it cancause blindness, which occurs in a quarter of amillion children each year. Children suffer from thespectre of poverty, just as much as or more thanadults. However, it is not just a problem in developingcountries, but also in some of the most industrializedcountries in the world. In 1993, 12.2 million childrenunder the age of 5 died, primarily because of malnutri-tion and other curable diseases. In 1995, it wasestimated that half the global HIV infections hadbeen people under the age of 25, with up to 60% ofinfections occurring in females under the age of 20.In Canada, the number of children living in povertyhas increased by 46%.

2. The six main nutrients that are a necessity forfully productive active healthy lives are carbohy-drates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, andwater. Although, these six nutrients are needed inorder for one to not experience hunger, anothercondition called malnutrition can be experienced evenif one does have some of these nutrients. Malnutritionoccurs when there is an inadequate consumption(under nutrition) or excessive consumption of one ormore nutrients. This condition can cause impairmentto one’s physical and mental health. In a world wherethere is more than enough food being produced tofeed everyone, hunger and malnutrition are growingphenomena.

3. The only life form that can make its own food isthe plant. Plants are called producers as they makeor produce their own food through a process calledphotosynthesis. During this process, they also makefood for other organisms, called consumers. Humansare put into the category of consumers as we useglucose, that plants produce during photosynthesis, tomake our food.

4. True

5. True

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1. b. exportation of cash crops.In many developing countries, a very large part ofcrop production is oriented towards the exportmarket. This has occurred in response to thegrowing pressure on developing countries togenerate revenue necessary to pay for importedmanufactured items and luxury goods. It is also inresponse to the need for revenue to pay intereston debts to the industrialized world. Thus, forexample, while millions of acres of land might beused for coffee production in a developing coun-try, there is little subsistence farming done.Consequently, more and more developing coun-tries are finding themselves in a position wherethey must import food to feed their people.

2. d. Saudi ArabiaThe United Nations has asked industrializedcountries to give 0.7% of their gross domesticproduct (GDP) to help developing countries. Fiveregions have reached that target, Denmark,Sweden, Holland, Norway and the oil exportingcountries of the Persian Gulf. It is the Gulf regionwhich leads with 2.81% of their GDP going toaid, followed by Norway, with 1.83%. Canada lagswith less than 0.4%, while the United States onlygives 0.25%.

3. False

4. True

5. FalseBy 1995, debt in developingcountries actually reached 2trillion!

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1. Enough to eat — when someone is hungry, theyare being denied the right to have enough to eatClean water — water is needed not only to growcrops to eat, but it is also necessary for the clean-ing and preparation of foodA home — if someone is too poor to have food,then they are frequently too poor to afford a home.Hunger also prevents one from having the physicalstrength to build themselves a home or a place tolive.Health care — the right medicines and vitamins areonly effective with a proper dietEducation — with the proper schooling and educa-tion comes increased opportunity to generateincome and therefore secure a safe, hunger-freefuture. Hunger also inhibits an individual’s abilityto learnA livelihood — often a simple livelihood of operat-ing a farm can eliminate hunger within a family,providing food as well as an income and a futureA safe environment — a safe environment can bethe first step towards an agricultural livelihoodProtection from violence — war is often a directcause of poverty and hunger, when one is protectedfrom this, there is a less chance of experiencingpoverty and hungerEquality of opportunity — manygroups are not receiving enoughfood simply because they are aminority; for example women,children, races, social classes,etc.A say in their future — thereality is that the hungry arebeing denied this right becausethey might not have a future

2. a) Throughout the developing world rural womenprovide most of the labor for farming — working thefields and storing, handling, marketing and process-ing crops. According to the Food and AgricultureOrganization, “ in sub-Saharan Africa and theCaribbean, women produce up to 80% of basicfoodstuffs.” In Canada, women account for morethan 50% of all farm labor.

b) In many cultures women are often the last to eatin their families and in fact go without if there is ashortage of food. This results in malnourishedmothers giving birth to low birth weight babies. Thedocuments that have been written enshriningwomen’s rights are the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, and “Women 2000: gender equality,development and peace for the twenty first century”(by the United Nations) and the conventions thathave been held are The United Nations Conventionfor the Elimination of Discrimination AgainstWomen. There is also an International Women’s Daythat is on March 8th and an International Day forthe Elimination of Violence Against Women, whichis on November 25th.

3. e. all of the aboveAn unanticipated consequence of the Green Revolu-tion has been the bankruptcy of small farmers. Forexample, in India, before the Green Revolution,approximately 18% of rural people had no land atall. After the Green Revolution of the 1970’s 33% ofrural people owned no land. Who profited most fromthe Green Revolution? Large multinational foodcompanies who were able to make the initial invest-ments in seeds, pesticides, fertilizers and irrigation.

4. FalseAccording to the FAO, 800 million people worldwideare malnourished

5. What are natural resources?

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TTTTTomasito the Tomasito the Tomasito the Tomasito the Tomasito the Tomatoomatoomatoomatoomato

This can be done as a play withpreparation, or simply read out bydifferent people in class. Get cos-

tumes, maybe some background music foreffect! Be creative! Remember, if you aredoing this for a large audience, you willneed to have at least two microphonesoperating.

Characters:

Tomasito the TomatoFarm workerPlant workerWaitressNarrator

Scene 1: On the vineNarrator: Our journey starts on a Mexican

plantation, where Tomasito the tomatowas grown. Little does Tomasito knowthat today will be the beginning of hisjourney through North America.

The scene begins with Tomasito on thevine. The farm worker comes by withspray bottle.

Tomasito: Hey, how’s it going?

Farm worker: Ah, not so good.

Tomasito: What’s the problem?

Farm Worker: Well, I’ve got structuraladjustment problems.

Tomasito: That doesn’t sound very healthy.Have you seen a doctor?

Farm Worker: Well, it’s not really a dis-ease, but even if it was, I couldn’t affordto see a doctor. You see the governmenthere is in debt, and the World Bank said“you had better open up your markets toforeign investment!”

Tomasito: That doesn’t sound so bad.Won’t that mean more money for people?

Farm Worker: No, it’s going to mean largeforeign corporations are going to buy upeven more of the land. This land, forexample, is owned by Jolly Green Giant.And these corporations don’t want to payus very much money: I only make about$2.50 a day.

Tomasito: That’s not very much! I don’tthink you could even afford to buy me!

Farm Worker: No. And the corporationsship all the tomatoes out of here anyway,so Mexico has to import its food, makingfood even more expensive for us to buy.

Tomasito: Were things always this way?

Farm Worker: No, there was a time whenthis land used to belong to a cooperative.All the workers shared the profits, andcould eat the tomatoes instead of sellingthem if we wanted to. None of us wererich, but we did manage to grow enoughto take care of ourselves and our familiesand have a little extra to sell. But bigbusiness came along, made all thesepromises, told us we’d be better off, butlook at us now! Well, enough chitchat.I should get back to work. (worker beginsto spray tomato with spray bottle)

ACTIVITIES: TOMASITO THE TOMATO

www.oxfam.ca

Tomasito: (has coughing fit) Whew! Whatis that stuff!

Farm Worker: Pesticides. I’m sorry I haveto do this to you, but it’s company orders.Just try to hold your breath.

Tomasito: (coughs again) Is it safe?

Farm Worker: Not at all. Pesticides havecaused destruction of the environment,like the destruction of coral reefs offPuerto Rico. They have also been linkedto health risks in the people who eatthem. Not only that, but a corporationcalled Monsanto sends all its hazardouswaste from pesticide use to a place calledEmelle, Alabama, the site of the world’slargest toxic waste dump. The peoplethere have to live with all that dangerouswaste near there homes, which can’t behealthy.

Tomasito: What about you? I noticed thatyou and the other workers don’t wear anymasks or even gloves when spraying thepesticides.

Farm Worker: I know. Many of the otherworkers have gotten sick. Did you knowthousands of workers die each year ofpesticide poisoning? But the corporationssay we can’t prove the connection. Wecan’t afford a lawyer, and anybody whotries to start a union is fired. And I knowit can’t be good for my health. Why elsewould I be standing here talking to a

tomato?

Scene 2: Packaging plant:

Plant worker is carrying tomatoesoffstage. He/she gets to Tomasito andbegins to push him along a conveyor belt.

Tomasito: Hey, not so rough!

Plant worker: (slightly angrily; he/she is ina bad mood) What’s the problem? I haveno time to deal with talking tomatoesright now. I have to package all thesevegetables in two hours.

Tomasito: But I’m delicate! I need to betreated with care!

Plant worker: (angrily) Get over it. Youare a tomato. Besides, you should be ableto handle it: the scientists who geneti-cally modified you, developed you to becapable of making the long trip to thesupermarket without damage. In fact,they think you are so strong that theypatented you, so that no other tomatocompanies can grow your breed. So stopacting like such a wimp.

Tomasito: Well, somebody’s in a bad mood.

Plant worker: (apologetically) Look, I’msorry for being so rude. It’s just that myshift started at 6:00 this morning and Iwon’t be finished until 9:00 tonight. I’malso having trouble paying the rent: I onlymake about $1.50 a day here. Plus, my

ACTIVITIES: TOMASITO THE TOMATO — CONTINUED

www.oxfam.ca

daughter wants to goto school, and Iwould love to sendher. But I can’tafford the books or

the uniforms. I justdon’t want her to end up

where I am, working at alow paying job with no benefits for

the rest of her life.

Tomasito: Well, in that case you have theright to be in a bad mood. I don’t blameyou. Hey, why is that bandage on yourhand?

Plant worker: Well, yesterday I was work-ing in the canning department, and hurtmy hand on one of the machines. Thelighting was not very good so I couldn’tsee very well.

Tomasito: What? Shouldn’t they havebetter lighting? Shouldn’t you at leasthave the day off to recover?

Plant worker: I could take the day off, butthe manager said it’s my own fault for notbeing careful, so they’d dock me a day’spay. I can’t afford to pay a doctor to lookat it anyway and the corporation refusesto pay, so here I am. Now, are you readyto be sent to the canner?

Tomasito: I guess so. Hope your handgets better soon.

(Plant worker leads Tomasito offstage)

Scene 3: Restaurant

(Tomasito is in a fancy restaurant beingprepared as a salad. Waitress is preparingsalad to bring out)

Tomasito: What’s happening to me now?Where am I?

Waitress: Welcome to ‘Bon Appetite’,Toronto’s finest gourmet restaurant. Youare being made into a fresh garden salad,along with some other vegetables and ahouse dressing made fresh each day by ourchef.

Tomasito: I sound yummy! Am I?

Waitress: I wouldn’t know. I’d never beable to afford the salad here.

Tomasito: Let me guess. You get paid lowwages.

Waitress: Yep.

Tomasito: And have no benefits.

Waitress: Yep.

Tomasito: And work lots of overtime.

Waitress: Yep, how do you know all this?

Tomasito: Well, it seems like everybody Imeet who is involved with getting me fromthe vine to the table has the same prob-lems. It seems like if I’m going to beturned into a salad, at least someoneshould benefit from me. If it isn’t thefarmer, the plant worker, or you, doesanybody make money from me?

ACTIVITIES: TOMASITO THE TOMATO — CONTINUED

www.oxfam.ca

Waitress: Yes, but it’s nobody who is actu-ally involved in growing or processingtomatoes. The CEO’s of the big corpora-tions like Monsanto and Jolly Green Giantmake plenty of money, even though theyhave probably never grown a tomatothemselves.

Tomasito: Does anybody else have goodjobs? What about you? Have you everhad a good job?

Waitress: Yes. In fact, I used to work in atomato processing plant. I didn’t make awhole lot of money. But it was a decentjob all the same: the hours were reason-able, there were good safety standards, wehad a health plan, and after I workedthere for a year, I got a raise. It wasn’texactly luxury, but I didn’t have to worrytoo much about paying the bills.

Tomasito: So why did you quit?

Waitress: I didn’t quit, silly. The plantclosed and the owners moved it toMexico, where they would have to pay lessin wages and the safety standards werelow. This job is part time, so the restau-rant doesn’t have to give me benefits.They only pay me minimum wage, and Idoubt very much I will get a raise anytime soon. I don’t make enough moneyoff this job, so I have another job as well,in a clothing store. Look, I can’t chat anylonger. The guy who ordered you iswaiting.

Tomasito: OK. I guess this is the end forme. I hope I make a good salad!

Narrator: Thus, our journey ends. A to-mato has quite an interesting journeyfrom vine to salad, passing though manypeople before getting eaten. And somany of the people who help along theway have many of the same problems: lowpay, few benefits, and dangerous workingconditions. In lots of other industries,the same problems occur. So next timeyou eat a salad, buy a pineapple, drink acup of coffee — purchase almost anything— think of Tomasito and who gains andwho loses in today’s global economy.

ACTIVITIES: TOMASITO THE TOMATO — CONTINUED

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The Land ChallengeThe Land ChallengeThe Land ChallengeThe Land ChallengeThe Land Challenge— An Exercise in Collective Decision Making

Separate into groups. Each group willrepresent a small village. Your villagehas just bought an area of land to

farm. Now you need to decide what to dowith it. Your village has a meeting witheveryone to discuss how the land should beused, and you must make several decisions.As a group think of a name for your villageand decide what you want to do with theland. Talk about and answer the followingquestions:

• How will the land be split up? Willeveryone get an equal share? Will peoplewith more money get more land? Willpeople with bigger families get more land?Will women-headed households get land?

• What kind or crops will you grow? Willyou grow more than one kind? With manykinds, your village can have a full range offood for nutrition; with one kind, you cansell more.

• Will you eat what you grow, sell it locally,or export it to other countries? If yougrow food, you don’t have to pay for it; ifyou export, you may make more money.With exports, you must use a large portionof your land to make shipments worth-while.

• Will you use pesticides? Pesticides pro-tect from insects so you don’t have to doas much work, but they are also bad foryour health.

• Will you buy genetically engineered cropsor traditional ones? Genetically engi-neered crops have special characteristics:they might grow faster, or resist disease.But you have to pay the company forseeds each year, which can be very expen-sive. In traditional farming, you can useyour own seeds year after year.

• What will you do if your crops fail?• If each family has their own piece of land,

what happens when one family’s cropshave a bad year? Do other families helpthem out?

• Does your village have a plan if there is afamine?

There is no truly right answer. Ifyour group cannot decide on a certainissue, have a vote to decide. Make briefnotes on your answers. After the groupshave made their decisions, a person fromeach group should tell the class about thedecisions they made. How were yourgroup’s decisions different from the othergroups?

ACTIVITIES: THE LAND CHALLENGE

NOTES:

This kit was made possible with the funding from the Canadian International Development Agency

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