No Yachts in Waseka, MN

Kevin Kerr writes today in his column From Field to Fork that "The New Reality for Food Costs is Here." We've been sharing the big stories from national newspapers with you, but this article caught our attention in specific because Mr. Kerr deliberately, and accurately, points out that,

"Farmers feel that the average consumer blames them and think the farmer is getting rich off these food costs; when in reality there are no yachts in Waseca, Minn., only farmers trying to grow their crops and take care of their families."

Of course, Kerr is right. The reality is that what farmers do is raise crops and feed their families -- no yachts, no trips to Paris and in fact, all too often a couple days at the State Fair is all the vacation there is.

So once again, there is a conuldrum. Profit margins have narrowed because of rising costs of diesel fuel, higher technology in seeds and more. As Kerr reports, crop input costs are up as much as 100%. The Wall Street Journal reports that "Grain Companies' Profits Soar as Global Food Crisis Mounts."

And the world's poor is becoming more hungry. But let's not blame it on farmers. Instead, let's get into the "WE" mode, i.e., WE ALL need to take responsibility. Certainly for all the reasons that add up to compassion and caring, but also for a few selfish reasons too. For example, take a look at northern Africa ... look at the Middle East, look at where famine, war, and all kinds of "hate the western world" and "hate each other" actions take place. Note that these regions of the world pretty much are the same places -- different lists, but the same locations for the difficulties. In short, the bottom line -- where people lose hope, see their children hungry, see their friends' and their own hopes disappear, it doesn't matter how sensible the risks are -- to start a war, to hate the U.S. and/or the whole Western World -- even when the risks are 99% likely to fail. If you're really, really hungry, you'll try just about anything.

As far as solutions, perhaps the best one would be for everyone -- rural and urban together -- to start sharing more resources rather than to be so quick with the guns in foreign, hungry lands.