Witness the situation in the Indian state of Orissa, where people in several districts are experiencing famine conditions and acute hunger even as the Government of India boasts of record food production of over 190 million metric tons and food stocks of some 25 million metric tons. The more fundamental issues relevant to wiping out hunger and malnutrition are who grows the food, how it is grown, whether the poor have physical and financial access to it, and in what manner food grown is consumed. Sadly, these issues received little attention from governments in Rome, efforts of NGOs to raise them notwithstanding. . . . The answer perhaps lies in how the world has changed between 1974 and 1996. Food is no longer a basic human right, although governments will continue to accord some lip service to this proposition so as not to lose the votes of the large numbers of hungry.
Food is first and last a business.
Profit is the name of the game, and hungry people, unfortunately, don t contribute to the bottom line. Today what people eat is increasingly being determined by an unholy trinity comprising transnational corporations, global capital, and international crop research institutes. These forces called the shots at the food summit, often acting under the guise of NGOs. They were rarely seen or heard in public, but their presence was certainly felt. In addition, the overwhelming message from developing countries was recognition that they must enact internal reforms to reduce hunger. . . .