UN FAO Food Summit teeters towards stalemate

At the UN Food Summit in Rome, “Everyone complained about other people’s protectionism — and defended their own,” according to the New York Times. The emergency gathering of world leaders teetered on the brink of farce as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe hectored listeners with an anti-colonialist outburst and the president of Iran, “talked about the need to inject religion into food politics” in the Times’ memorable take. It became obvious to observers by the end of Wednesday’s sessions that progress on Secretary-General Ban-KI Moon’s $30 billion food shortage target would be minimal. The roughest treatment for biofuels was handed out by Brazilian President Inacio Lula Da Silva, who pillories US corn ethanol in an address defending the sugarcane ethanol industry.

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