The Scarcity Fallacy

   
      This review attacks the mainstream perspective that world hunger exists because of food scarcity. Most of the public believes that there is a limited supply of food for the exponentially growing population. However, in reality, food production exceeds that of the population growth. Sociologists believe the real roots of world hunger are masked by these assumptions of food scarcity. Instead, they blame social inequalities, distribution systems, and economic and political actors that contribute to poverty.  As solution to these problems, the authors recommend a combination of changing different parts of the corrupt system. To combat inequality, a more democratic government should be put in place to promote human rights. This includes fixing the politics of food aid and the global political economy. They argue that recognizing food as a fundamental human right would help target women and children who lack access to nutritional food. Another focus should be place on distributing food aid to those who need rather than for political favor. The authors also suggest direct cash assistance to help the local economy be more self independent. They also want to promote sustainable agriculture for local farmers to create an accessible market. These solutions are not simple to implement, but if implemented correctly, it can combat not only hunger but the larger issue of poverty.

       The documentary, We Feed the World, enforced the thesis of this article. The unsold bread that was dumped in a warehouse proves that there is not a scarcity of food, but rather a problem with how food is distributed. While some places in the world have an excess of food, not enough of it is going to the people who actually need it.  I agree with the sociologists’ views that we should target poverty as the main problem and thus work towards what we can do as a society to change this. However, the long term solutions they offer are extremely hard to implement and may have adverse effects. For example, many governments around the world would reject a more democratic and free market approach. These governments have already engraved their ideals on their society, so it cannot be easily change. I agree that food aid should be less corrupt, but cash assistance could leads to an even more corrupt system. Although it is hard to say if many of these solutions are a realistic approach, it is giving exposure to the real problems society should be concern about.

1. What are the first steps of implementing these long term solutions?

2. Will world hunger ever be solved?