Thus man, for most centuries of human history has laboriously eked out a living from the stubborn soil. Since the end of the last century, however, the agricultural scene changed dramatically. And today, instead of walking behind a plough and ox, the farmer may sit in his air-conditioned cab and while listening to CD's of Bach in stereo, he plants seeds or harvests all day. Many of the Third World countries still farm primitively. Nevertheless, famines in these countries are just as much the result of politics and greed as they are from shortage of rain and lack of technology.
Grain is in surplus.
Forty-six million acres of U.S. farmland and 11 million acres in Europe have been deliberately idled under government programs to boost farmers' incomes. One liberal estimate of the number of people who have lived since the beginning of creation is approximately 252 billion. Even then, allowing ten square feet for each individual, they could all fit in the state of Texas. But still we see wrenching scenes of starvation, masses of refugees and the hapless homeless on our television news. Man, as represented in Adam, was in a perfect Garden of Eden.