FOOD-POPULATION-WAR The Politics of Desperation - Keith W Stump - March 1975

Keith W Stump

In the face of skyrocketing fuel, fertilizer, and food costs, crop failures and bad weather, the nations of the developing Third World -threatened with bankruptcy and starvation- may be forced to turn to the "politics of desperation" in attempt to alleviate their acute situation. John H. Steinhart, Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison fears just such a development. Dr. Steinhart was one of several leading scientists participating in a symposium on Science and Foreign Policy: The Food-Energy Relationship at the 141st annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in January in New York City. "There have never before been as many hungry, miserable people in the world," Dr. Steinhart emphasized. Many experts estimate that over a billion people worldwide - one in four - are suffering malnutrition. Because the underdeveloped nations are not heavily energy intensive in their agriculture but rely primarily on human and animal labor. Dr. Steinhart noted a tendency on the part of, some observers to minimize the impact of higher fuel costs on them. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library