Poor Haitians resort to eating dirt....

[Webster]

This is really, really sad.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080130/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_eating_dirt;_ylt=AmcXx7ELN..._ywTynDhgDW7oF

I can not believe this is happening...

[Bodyslide]

Sad

[zzyzzx]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies. Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.




I think the story is pretty funny.

[hgh]

It is truly sad that humanity wastes so much energy in fruitless pursuits while people are forced to sustain themselves in such extreme conditions. It's a sign of the times. The misuse of already poorly distributed resources exasperated by the worldwide credit debacle, is affecting the lives of those with the least amount of access to basic necessities the most.

[zzyzzx]

It is truly sad that humanity wastes so much energy in fruitless pursuits while people are forced to sustain themselves in such extreme conditions. It's a sign of the times. The misuse of already poorly distributed resources exasperated by the worldwide credit debacle, is affecting the lives of those with the least amount of access to basic necessities the most.

These people are dirt poor to begin with (even in good times, and pun intended). If they actually tried being prudent any only had the number of children that they can actualy afford to feed etc. then these starvation problems would go away quickly.

[hgh]

They eat mudpies. There is no money for contraception, education, etc.

[tweedledee]

Yeah, They must be very fattening, or the news crews will believe anything.

[guns1inger]

They eat mudpies. There is no money for contraception, education, etc.

Contraception is free - don't put it in there.
And surely, after the first one, they can work out what causes them ?

That said, it's nice to know that Bono is out there fighting to make us aware of the problem, just like he is doing for dafur . . . . oh, no he's not.

The solution is really simple.

1. Go in there, oust the criminals running these countries into the ground, provide food, education and democracy to the people, and then be accused of being imperialist, colonialist, capitalist bastards (you know - the US) by the whining leftist pratts (especially the filthy rich ones that fly around the world telling the rest of us how evil we all are)

or

2. Be a whining leftist pratt who blames all the evils of the world on the imperialist, colonialist, capitalist bastards (you know - the US) while sipping Chardy and actually contributing nothing but increased global warming through hot air expulsion (or, if you are a rich whining pratt, by flying around in your private jet while leaving all the lights on in the four 30 room mansions you own around the globe - although only in the nice countries). You can complain about how the rich countries never do anything to help, and then when they do, complain about how it is the wrong thing to do

[zzyzzx]

They eat mudpies. There is no money for contraception, education, etc.

Contraception is free - don't put it in there.

Or put it in the butt.

[Stiiv]

Haiti has been independent for a very long time, & has never been able to govern itself properly or enable its citizens to climb out of poverty. Never. There's an obvious lesson there, but in these times, where (often unpleasant) truths are left unspoken to avoid "hurt feelings", it's considered "wrong" to point out that the Emperor's nekkid.

If/when the people of Haiti become truly sick & tired of the corruption, tribalism & nepotism endemic in what passes for their "society", maybe, just maybe, things will change there.

[zzyzzx]

Contraception is free - don't put it in there.

[bourboner]

Contraception is free - don't put it in there.

lol!

[Epicurus8a]

Some people just don't grasp the seriousness of things until it affects them personally and especially in the wallet. What a sad comment on our extremely short-sighted society.

[Tundra Trout]

At least mud is low in cholesterol.

I have real trouble feeling sorry for Haitians.I've been to Haiti?DR and those people are animals.I'm surprised there isn't cannibalism there.If they would stop multiplying like rabbits they would all have more food, but it is like a fucken race to see who can have kids the fastest there.

[Epicurus8a]

[zzyzzx]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332172,00.html

U.N. Conference Promotes Insect-Eating for Everyone From Famine Victims to Astronauts
Sunday, February 24, 2008

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Crickets, caterpillars and grubs are high in protein and minerals and could be an important food source during droughts and other emergencies, according to scientists.



"I definitely think they can assist," said German biologist V.B. Meyer-Rochow, who regularly eats insects and wore a T-shirt with a Harlequin longhorn beetle to a U.N.-sponsored conference this month on promoting bugs as a food source.

Three dozen scientists from 15 countries gathered in this northern Thailand city, home to several dozen restaurants serving insects and other bugs. Some of their proposals were more down to earth than others.

A Japanese scientist proposed bug farms on spacecraft to feed astronauts, noting that it would be more practical than raising cows or pigs. Australian, Dutch and American researchers said more restaurants are serving the critters in their countries.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 1,400 species of insects and worms are eaten in almost 90 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Researchers at the conference detailed how crickets and silk worms are eaten in Thailand, grubs and grasshoppers in Africa and ants in South America.

"In certain places with certain cultures with a certain level of acceptance, then insects can very well be seen as part of the solution" to hunger, said Patrick Durst, a Bangkok-based senior forestry officer at the FAO.

The challenge, experts said, is organizing unregulated, small bug food operations in many countries so they can supplement the food that aid agencies provide. The infrastructure to raise, transport and market bugs is almost nonexistent in most countries.

Prof. Arnold van Huis, a tropical entomologist known as "Mr. Edible Insect" in his native Netherlands, blamed a Western bias against eating insects for the failure of aid agencies to incorporate bugs into their mix.

"They are completely biased," van Huis said. "They really have to change. I would urge other donor organizations to take a different attitude toward this ... It's excellent food. It can be sustainable with precautions."

There are questions about the safety of eating bugs and potential dangers from over-harvesting them, said Durst, who became interested in the practice known scientifically as entomophagy during his years working in Bangkok, where crickets and bamboo worms are sold as food by street vendors.

Tina van den Briel, senior nutritionist at the World Food Program, the U.N. agency that provides food in emergencies, expressed doubt that insects can benefit large, vulnerable populations. Most bugs are seasonal and have a short shelf life, she said.

"They can be a very good complement to the diet," said van den Briel, not a conference participant. "But they do not lend themselves to programs like ours where you transport food over long distances and where you have to store food for a few months."

She suggested a more practical benefit might be adding insects to animal feed or crushing them into a meal powder that could be used to make cookies or cakes.

Meyer-Rochow said aid agencies might even find a way to harvest crop-destroying swarms of locusts and crickets.

"These mass outbreaks could be a valuable food source," he said. "If the technology is available, they could be ground up like a paste and added to the food humans eat."