Rioting in Haiti sparked by increases in food prices and hunger has forced the postponement of the Partners in Mission Haiti trip originally scheduled for April 19th - 26th, 2008. One of the activities for this trip was for St James to participate in the Loaves and Fishes program of St Paul's Episcopal Church, Torbeck. This program takes rice weekly to some of the poorest families in the Torbeck area. It is one way the church can help prevent hunger, but does not even begin to address nutrition. In addition, micro loans from the Episcopal Church and other agencies are used in this area to set up small food stores in the market place. The women that run these stores sell both locally produced and imported goods in order to be able to feed their own families.
The riots in Haiti follow those in Egypt and other areas of the world, and appear to be a result in part of rising food prices. A provoking blog on the subject can be found here: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/04/let-them-eat-ethanol/
The blog talks not only about developing countries but highlights the growing problem of hunger and increasing reliance on food stamps in the US.
Helen
Friday, April 11, 2008
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