On a May 8 article, Xinhua criticized that “a few developed countries” point figures to developing countries for causing the food crisis. It quotes the words from Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce & Industry Government of India, that “Bush is again proved to be totally wrong.” The article makes the following points:
1, U.S. 2007 grain consumption grew 11.81%, comparing with 2.17% that of India;
2, Long term agricultural subsidies policy adopted by developed countries has led distortion in food prices and hurt the market of agricultural products in developing countries;
3, U.S and European countries’ development of bio-energy further squeezed the supply of food to human beings;
4, the U.S. sub-prime housing crisis resulted in an international financial turmoil, alluring large amount of speculative capital into the commodity market for agricultural products to deteriorate the imbalance of global food supply.
Source: Xinhua, May 8, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-05/08/content_8126897.htm