Badael-Alternatives

Plans to enhance Arab food security are good because they allow local people to liberate themselves from the control of the 4 mega corporation that deal with food trade. But if this means that they will need to purchase seeds and agrochemical from the 5 mega corporations that deal with agribusiness, I'm not sure they're going to be better off. This was the message of my editorial today in al akhbar. Rameh Hamiyyeh wrote about the watermelon farmers of the North Bekaa who have to buy improved varieties at high cost, which means that small farmers have gone out of business and only large operators have prevailed. And Muhammad Muhsin wrote about the lure of summer fruits and the misconception that eating fruits make you thin.