Originally Posted by
PhilJohnson
I've read that in some cases food aid from the USA caused a lot of issues with rural economies in third world nations. When people got free food it put the local farmers out of business. The focus should have been on better farming practices along with some food aid so people could avoid needing it in the future.
But we only learned half of the lesson. Maybe we reduced direct food aid and replaced it with teaching "modern" agriculture as well as providing tractors and combines to developing countries. But instead of exporting our version of agricultural practices to these countries, we should be helping them to develop methods that are more practical in their local regions, as well as more sustainable.
Also, we should have wide discussions on whether we westerners should be willing to spend a few more pennies on food in order to better sustain farmers around the world.