100. Obama's comment on Indians eating too much. P S Remesh Chandran

100

Obama's comment on Indians eating too much

P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum
 Article Title Image By Sasint. Graphics: Adobe SP.

ADB Chief Economist Dr. Rhee’s warning that left unchecked, the food crisis presently experienced will badly undermine the recent gains in poverty reduction made by the Asian countries is to be heeded to. Efforts to stabilize food production can certainly be given the centre stage and greater investments can also be made in agricultural infrastructure to increase crop production and to expand storage facilities. But what can effectively be done to ensure that what grain is produced is not wasted? Soaring food prices is a clear indication of supply and demand not balancing. If supply won’t increase, what solution is there to this crisis other than lowering demand? 

Following the recent visit of President Obama’s to India, a controversial debate arose as to his supposed comment that the world food crisis is due to the Indians eating too much. If he said it, it was the utmost truth that he said. But it is not the men who eat all this lot but the millions and millions of house dogs! They equal people in the 1:1 ratio. It is not junk food or left-over these pets are fed four times a day but executive food. And the quantity of food they eat! Not one person in authority likes to mention the culinary tastes of their dogs leading to a world food crisis. And not one newspaper editor has ever written anything about this most conspicuous thing. Criticizing the venerable Obama is far easier and safe. No one wishes to antagonize their wives. The objective of his brief comment is not to examine the wisdom or lack of it of enacting laws placing dogs very near to gods, but to point out the most lucid explanation for the recent food crisis in Asia mentioned in the article. 

[In response to news article ‘Food prices push millions of Asians into poverty’ on 05 May 2011]