eatism on terror 1

Copenhagen Climate Conference

The beginners' guide to the Copenhagen climate conference negotiating text
The COP15 negotiating document will form the basis of a crucial climate agreement at global talks in Copenhagen this December. David Adam (from the Guardian) explains what the text really means

article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2009/sep/28/climate-change-copenhagen-text-explanation

image of the earth source: http://jaeger.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/msandifo/mikes.html
image of the rainbow: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rainbow-diagram-ROYGBIV.svg

utopia dystopia

urban malaysian faces the global domination of maksundalism.
this original piece is an appropriation of: Vaclav Masek from Vladimir Mayakovsky book called "150,000.000"

Fair Trade?

beverage of happiness

why felda?

Malaysians eat a lot. According to a report, ‘...rapid expansion of the Malaysian economy over the past two decades has resulted in changing food consumption patterns and a growth in demand for agricultural products. Domestic production, however, cannot keep pace with rising demand. Demand for food, especially for wheat-based products, livestock, dairy products, sugar and vegetables, is expected to continue to increase. Imports are essential to meeting Malaysia’s food requirements.’
(From: http://www.abare.gov.au/publications_html/crops/crops_08/malaysiafood.pdf)

‘Malaysia’s National Agricultural Plan 3 (NAP 3) caps the proportion of land that can be used for agricultural purposes at 20% of the total land area of 32.86 million hectares. This limit has not yet been reached.

Currently, Malaysia has about 18.55 million hectares of forest, compared to 4.3 million hectares of land under oil palm. Oil palm covers 65% of agricultural land.

30-35% of Malaysian palm oil is produced by smallholders. Oil palm cultivation has become a means to overcome rural poverty. The establishment of land schemes, for example by the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA – http://www.felda.com.my) and the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (FELCRA), has resettled landless farmers who mainly grow oil palm. Today, FELDA manages about 853,000 hectares of plantations, providing employment for over 112,635 farmers. The land schemes are provided with basic amenities such as piped water, electricity, communications, roads, schools and healthcare, and offer further employment opportunities in these economic activities.

Palm oil currently contributes about 5-6% of Malaysian GDP and provides employment for 1.4 million workers (direct employment of 570,000). It triggers downstream activities and brings in revenue for national development and stability, with foreign exchange earnings amounting to an average of Euro 7.5 billion annually over the past 3 years.’
(From: http://www.malaysiapalmoil.org/pdf/20080908-factsheet.pdf)

Therefore, to address the issue of 'changing food consumption patterns and a growth in demand for agricultural products', ...‘The government plans to turn all FELDA schemes into a national food warehouse capable of producing food on a large scale, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak said yesterday’

(From: FELDA to be National Food Warehouse, says PM.
The Sun; Kuala Lumpur. 8 July 2009. Front Page. http://www.sun2surf.com)

I have a couple of questions,

Why FELDA?
Why not other mega plantation conglomerates such as the SIME DARBY? (http://www.simedarby.com/Corporate_Profile.aspx)

endgame

Cari Makan

mesej dari http://www.jerit.org/

Mud Cakes

Land is holy, sacred. But, land is a scarce resource [HERE]. Fertile land should be used to grow crops so that human beings and animals can eat, not for growing crops for our cars and bikes (i.e. biomass, biofuel etc) or else, we may have to resort to mud cakes for dinner.

Haiti: Mud cakes become staple diet as cost of food soars beyond a family's reach

"With little cash and import prices rocketing half the population faces starvation

At first sight the business resembles a thriving pottery. In a dusty courtyard women mould clay and water into hundreds of little platters and lay them out to harden under the Caribbean sun.
The craftsmanship is rough and the finished products are uneven. But customers do not object. This is Cité Soleil, Haiti's most notorious slum, and these platters are not to hold food. They are food (www.guardian.co.uk)."

Malaysians have to pay close attention to what is happening in Haiti. If we didn't do anything or didn't question our act of just buying imports, we will soon also be in trouble. Please read the following excerpt:

"Domestic agriculture is a disaster. The slashing and burning of forests for farming and charcoal has degraded the soil and chronic under-investment has rendered rural infrastructure at best rickety, at worst non-existent.
The woes were compounded by a decision in the 1980s to lift tariffs, when international prices were lower, and flood the country with cheap imported rice and vegetables. Consumers gained and the IMF applauded but domestic farmers went bankrupt and the Artibonite valley, the country's breadbasket, atrophied.
Now that imports are rocketing in price the government has vowed to rebuild the withered agriculture but that is a herculean task given scant resources, degraded soil and land ownership disputes.
There is a hopeful precedent. A growing franchise of localised dairies known as Let Agogo (Creole for Unlimited Milk) has organised small farmers to transport and market milk, generating jobs and income and cutting Haiti's £20m annual milk import bill (www.guardian.co.uk).

Please read more by clicking at the link below

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/29/food.internationalaidanddevelopment [online]
(Last Accessed June 1, 2009)

For Photo Gallery:
[HERE]
Hunger in Haiti
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2008/jul/22/haiti?picture=335890168 [online]
(Last Accessed June 1, 2009)

This is another very interesting article on the food crisis, EATEN UP.

"His analysis shows how communities around the planet have been disempowered by a system that appears to offer an abundance of cheap food, but in reality dictates unhealthy and limited choices to an overworked and underpaid workforce that cannot afford any better (www.guardian.co.uk)."

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/29/food.climatechange [online]
Last Accessed June 1, 2009

pasar tani

Aku suka konsep pasar tani kerana memberi peluang kepada petani atau pekedai kecil2an untuk memasarkan sendiri produk mereka. Aku tak suka pasaraya-pasaraya besar. Pasaraya-pasaraya gergasi dari luar negara yang modalnya entah puluhan juta menyesakkan ruang perniagaan peruncit kecil2an. Dasar liberalisme pasaran adalah dasar penjajahan abad ke 21!