Post #14: What is Food Dumping and How Does it Contribute to the Cycle of Poverty and Dependence Among the World’s Poorest People?

Food dumping is when food aid is given, when not for emergency relief, in the form of free, subsidized, or cheap food below market price. Food dumping contributes to the cycle of poverty because famers are forced to sell their products for extremely cheap prices, which, while aiding towards feeding those less fortunate, destroys the farmers market and drives many into poverty in the more fortunate areas of the world. Also, this act of “support” leads to dependence among the world’s poorest people. By simply sending over food products, we provide momentary relief to those in need; however, these people are still faced with starvation and now rely on the wealthy nations of the world to feed them. If developing countries were given access to land, industrial tools, and protection from cheap imports these nations could learn to obtain food for themselves and, therefore, the issue of famine could be improved in the long term.  Also, by the United States dumping food that is below market price in developing nations, the agriculture producers in these developing nations will face significant declines in their business, since their customers are receiving cheap imports from those who are trying to help. In effect, the economy of these agriculture dependent nations will suffer greatly due to efforts to provide aid. In fact, some instances of food dumping have proved to force farmers off their land and into sweatshops in the desperate attempt to make money, leaving these societies worse off than ever. The worst part is the United States publicizes this food dumping as if it is in the benefit of those receiving the “aid”; however, this food is sometimes given with the result of a loan that must be paid off and the United States taking over the agriculture fields in developing nations. I think this quotation by Anuradha Mittal is an appropriate summarization of these points, "Far from ending hunger and promoting the economic interests of small famers, agricultural liberalization has created a global food system that is structured to suit the interests of the powerful, to the detriment of poor farmers around the world."