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News and images of the world food crisis have been hard to bear these last few months—skyrocketing food prices have provoked desperate rioting in many countries, including Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, and Pakistan. Millions of people are in trouble, and it’s hard to know what to do.
Yet this catastrophe was almost entirely preventable. As Sojourners assistant editor Elizabeth Palmberg points out in her article "A Human-Made Disaster," this crisis isn’t hard to understand when we untangle the factors that produced it. Some of those elements include our overreliance on fossil fuels in farming, trade policies that benefit rich countries over poor, the use of biofuels, and the ways in which corporate deregulation has enabled a few agribusiness giants to reap enormous profits. In short, these and other factors add up to a system that actually creates hunger—all this in a year of record grain harvests.
A global food system that’s been designed by multinational corporations results in a system that is neither ethical nor democratic, writes Frances Moore Lappé in "The Shortage Isn’t Food, It’s Democracy." It also just doesn’t make any sense. How can citizens regain some control over their food security? Lappé outlines seven actions we can take to begin to restore balance to our local, national, and international food systems. It’s a good reminder that we have the power to create change—not just for ourselves, but for millions of people around the globe.
—The Editors |
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Cover
A Human-Made Disaster
The dramatic rise in world food prices has pushed millions into poverty. Here's a look at 10 factors--from agrofuel production to rising meat and dairy consumption--that have contributed to this preventable crisis. by Elizabeth Palmberg
A Mandate for Action
Addressing the food crisis is a matter of political and spiritual will. by Tony Hall
The Shortage Isn't Food, It's Democracy
Progress on food security issues will only come when we begin to ask the right question and challenge the myths that trap us. by Frances Moore Lappe
Plus: 7 Steps Toward Food Sanity
by Frances Moore Lappe
The 'Zambia Food Crisis'
All politics is local--food politics even more so. by Peter Henriot
Features
Investing In Second Chances
An innovative program helps prison inmates make a fresh start--and they're not the only ones who benefit. The Prison Entrepreneurship Program also helps churches rethink the way they view justice, prisoners, and redemption. by Catherine Cuellar
'Through the Desert Goes Our Journey'
In the 1880s, Russian Mennonites trekked to Uzbekistan, where they believed Jesus would inaugurate his kingdom. As modern-day researchers look for traces of this apocalyptic group, they find signs of coexistence with Muslims that are healing and hopeful. by Jesse Nathan
'History Will Honor Your Actions'
A Franciscan priest pens a lament from the Imperial County Jail, where he served time for challenging the "terrible frontier" our country has entered: the use of torture. by Louis Vitale, OFM
Commentary
'We Belong to Each Other'
The pope challenges U.S. individualism and materialism. by Danny Duncan Collum
Carbon Colonialism
Real conservation is sidelined by carbon trading's bad math. by Trusha Reddy
A Better Path
Is it time for a Palestinian Ministry of Nonviolence? by Robert Hirschfield
Columns
Hearts & Minds: An Evangelical Manifesto
"Being disciples of Jesus means serving him in public as well as private." by Jim Wallis
Eyes & Ears: A Voice for the Home Front
The Drive-By Truckers capture "the cruel radiance of what is." by Danny Duncan Collum
H'rumphs: A Calendar to Set Your Clock By
It's Ordinary Days, the Miller Time of the liturgical year. by Ed Spivey Jr.
Culture Watch
The Mirrors of History
Members of a prominent slave-trading family confront the wounds of the past and present. by Dedrick Muhammad
Film Review: Traces of the Trade
by Katrina Browne.
Turning the Camera Around
Filmmaker Katrina Browne talks about the impetus behind Traces of the Trade.
Review: Traces of the Trade
by Katrina Browne.
The Poetry of Exclusion
Reviewed by Dale Brown
Book Review: Exiles
by Ron Hansen.
Ancient-Future Christians
Excerpt: Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices
by Brian McLaren.
A Nation for All
Reviewed by Duane Shank
Book Review: A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division
by Chris Korzen .
New and Noteworthy
Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms, by Rolf Jacobson; Renewal: Stories from America's Religious-Environmental Movement; Being Consumed, by William Cavanaugh; and Dare Not Walk Alone, by Jeremy Dean. by Molly Marsh
Departments
Letters
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Biblical Basics | Feasting on Change | A Low-Meat Diet? |
Between the Lines
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Beyond Evangelical Right and Left | The Church Has Left the Building | Repairing the Breach | Real Product | Catholic Worker Movement Turns 75 |
Poetry: Mrs. Logan's Garden Hose
by Louis Templeman
Living the Word: Life Lessons
by Laurel A. Dykstra
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