Food for Beginners

Food for Beginners, Susan George, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc, 1982

Ever wonder why over 800 million people, mostly in the Third World, live under the constant threat of famine, while in America crops are left to rot because the storage bins are full? This book gives the answers.

During the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800's, two million people died of starvation, but Ireland actually had twice as much food as was needed to feed its population. Irish peasants were told by the landlord that Paying Rent Comes First (even before feeding their children). The landlords sent the crops overseas and invested almost nothing in the land. The practice still goes on today all over the world (it's called "cash crops").

International aid programs simply push population control (and dump unsafe contraceptives) on the Third World, instead of changing the conditions that require them to have many children.

The US Senate has been told that the US health budget could be cut by about $70 billion if people simply improved their diets.

It's been said that for people who want to become politically active, but don't know where to start, food is the perfect place to start, because it touches everyone. Reading this book is an excellent place to begin that activism.