Obesity is the Answer to Hunger?

Ellen Gustafson spent her TED talk speaking of the change she seeks in the global food system. However she doesn't adress how to make this change, why it is needed, or what would to be fixed by it. I feel as though she left more than a few of my questions unanswered.

She says that America is not properly exporting food systems, and doesn't bother to elaborate on the meaning of this term. So she leaves me curious, what does this mean? How can it be fixed? She also refers to the farming problems in the U.S. and says they were caused by an oil crisis? How could it be possible that our country would allow a decline in the most vital and neccessary of all our industries? We eat, everyday, three times a day, sometimes more. How can the farming system be on the decline with the exponentially increasing popluation? It doesn't seem feasable.

She also spoke of the change that has happened in the food system within the past thirty years, yet again doesn't explain what the change has been, or the influence that it has had over the food system not only in our country but globally either. Her foundation Project 30 has the motive of once again changing the food system in the next thirty years but quickly talks through the goals of the organization and expands little on them. What difference will her foundation make in the food system? She says it will focus on the long term effects of the past change in the food system, so I ask her, what are those long term effects?

There is truth in the words she speaks about increased violence in hungry countries, yet it seems irrelevant to the point she tries to make. It appeared too that most of her information was clumped onto her slides, and she didn't elaborate on what was written there or bother to even mention the information on them at all. She spoke very quickly, showing obvious nervousness, and spoke vaguely throughout her entire presentation which gave me, as an audience member, the impression that she was fairly uneducated on the topic which she spoke about. I also would have liked her to address the link between the problems more, and how they both can be solved by the same solution.

I am in agreeance that a change needs to be made in our food system, as she said, "There are 1 billion people hungry, and 1 billion people obese," (Ellen Gustafson). I think that supporting 3rd world farmers, and giving them the tools necessary to quickly become independent and not only self sustaining but profitable is the answer to this problem. If they can produce food plentiful enough for themselves and people living in their villages hunger will be a thing of the past.

Ellen's TED talk can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_gustafson_obesity_hunger_1_global_food_issue.html

Others can be found at ted.com as well