Exploited and forgotten: farmworkers

عد سنوات من الخسائر المتتالية، تشهد زراعة البطاطا التي عرفها البقاع منذ مئات السنين، وكانت تعرف آنذاك بزراعة الفقراء، تراجعا وتهديدا حقيقيا بالاستمرار. باتت المواسم البقاعية الشهيرة حكرا على كبار المزارعين والاغنياء القادرين على استثمار مئات الدونمات وشراء اطنان البذار الغالية الثمن ومعها الأسمدة والمبيدات والأدوية الزراعية الفعالة. كما تسمح مقدرات هؤلاء بتأمين التصريف المناسب والتبريد اللازم وسواها من الكلف الانتاجية التي أدت الى افلاس مزارعي البطاطا الآخذين في النزف باستمرار في البقاع.

from al safir

"After years of recurrent losses, potato farming, once known as the crop of the poor, is in continuous decline. The famous crop of the Beqaa has now become monopolized by a few large farmers who plant hundreds of dunums and who can afford to buy tons of expensive seed potatoes and agrochemicals and who can also ensure the marketing and the storage and other production costs that have left the potato growers bleeding."

This article in Al Safir, reports among others on the concentration of the potato farming and supply chain into the hands of a few large operators, while small farmers exit the sector. But like all other articles on farming, there is no mention of the farmworkers: the people who actually produce the food we eat. They are mostly women, underpaid, without health coverage, often abused and exploited. Even their image does not belong to them: they provide the illustration for an article in which they are not even mentioned.

Lebanon South

A slide show of farmers in South Lebanon. A promotion of FAO's program, but nice pictures

http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/photos/LebanonSlideshow-en/

Farmers are unhappy: its the season

Lebanon is allowing the import of low quality (the article says toxic) olive oil extracted from mill residues. Farmers are unhappy.

http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/158776

A date in Iraq

"Since 2007, Iraq has had a lot less than half its normal rainfall. This has had another effect on the date harvest - rain cleans the trees, and washes away pests that degrade the crop. Now the insects thrive, and the trees suffer." (Thanks Laila)

Ghajar in Iraq

A long article on the terrible situation of the marginalized ghajar (gypsy?) population of Diwaniyya, in Iraq.

العراق: عزلة اجتماعية وإهمال حكومي يحاصران الغجر ويدفعانها إلى حافة... الكارثة

الأحد, 27 سبتمبر 2009

الديوانية (العراق) - فاضل رشاد

تبعد قرية الغجر العراقية نحو 50 كيلومتراً عن مدينة الديوانية الجنوبية، وتقع داخل صحراء محاطة بتلال ترابية وضعها الاهالي لسد هجمات المسلحين من المليشيات الذين يتعرضون لعائلاتها المغلوب على امرها والتي تقول ان حملها الجنسية العراقية بقرارات من صدام حسين لم ينجِّها من التمييز والاضطهاد.

يقول شيخ قرية الغجر ناظم ناهي فرحان لـ «الحياة»: «لولا فقرنا المدقع لهجرنا المنطقة ورحلنا لأن حياتنا صارت مهددة بالخطر الى جانب الفقر والامراض والاوبئة المنتشرة بين الاهالي».

read more

http://international.daralhayat.com/internationalarticle/60173

Milking the farm

This is an excellent article by Nahla al Shahhal on the current state of the globalized food system and its problems, taking as a entry point the latest strikes by European dairy farmers. Kudos to Nahla who can write excellent stuff on a variety of issues without deviating from social justice. From Al Hayat

http://international.daralhayat.com/internationalarticle/60152

أزمة الحليب في أوروبا: حين لا يمكن إخفاء الواقع!

الأحد, 27 سبتمبر 2009

نهلة الشهال

مئات ألوف مربي الأبقار الحلوب في أوروبا يتظاهرون منذ أسابيع. منذ أيام، قرروا معاً سكب ملايين ليترات الحليب في الحقول وعلى الطرقات، فطافت هذه ببياض لم يكن أبداً مبهجاً. روت تراب مناطق زراعية عريقة، أو ملأت، كبحيرة صغيرة، ساحة تقع أمام مجلس الاتحاد الأوروبي. المعادلة بسيطة: سعر بيع الحليب لشركات التصنيع والتوزيع الكبرى أدنى من كلفة إنتاجه. والاتجاه لترك السوق يحدد السعر، عبر إلغاء الكوتا، كما ينوي الاتحاد الأوروبي عام 2015، يعامل الغذاء كأي سلعة أخرى. عشرات من مربي الأبقار الحلوب، كلهم من الشباب، انتحروا ضيقاً بالخراب الذي لحق بهم، تماماً مثلما ينتحر يومياً في أوروبا موظفون بسطاء في مؤسسات عامة تجرى خصخصتها، أو مستخدمون وعمال في مؤسسات خاصة تحتج بالأزمة المالية العالمية لتصرف من الخدمة على نطاق واسع. ومن فرط تكرار حوادث الانتحار، أنشأت في بعض المؤسسات وحدات خاصة. ترى ماذا ستقول لهؤلاء الذين يجدون أنفسهم فجأة في العراء، في بلدان لا قيمة للإنسان، ولا وجود له، خارج العمل والاستهلاك، وفي بلدان انتهت فيها التضامنات «قبل - الحديثة»، العائلية والأحيائية، أو باتت محدودة جداً.

في فرنسا، أعلن مطلع الشهر الجاري أن رئيس واحد من أبرز بنوكها، ومديره العام، نالا مكافآت فائض قيمة تصل إلى مليون يورو. لكنهما تبرعا بنصفها لجمعية تنظِّم التسليف المتناهي الصغر. يا لكرمهما! في الربيع الفائت، أثناء عز الأزمة المالية العالمية، حاول هذان، مع مدراء بنوك آخرين، تخصيص نفسيهما بمثل هذه العوائد، مما استدعى وقتها تدخل رئيس الجمهورية شخصياً، الذي «أقنعهما» وزملاءهما بالتخلي عن الممارسة الفاضحة بينما تدعم الخزينة العامة البنوك منعاً لاهتزازها. يبدو أن الزمن يساعد حقاً على النسيان. وحدهما نالا هذا المبلغ، بينما قررت الحكومة الفرنسية، رداً على «تحرك الحليب» كما بات يسمى، منح مساعدة تبلغ 30 مليون يورو لمئة ألف مربي أبقار، هم من تبقى في المهنة التي كانت تضم نصف مليون عام 1984... أي، 300 يورو لكل منهم!!

كما فاوض وزير الزراعة البنوك إياها، وتمكن من انتزاع 250 مليون يورو كقروض ميسرة. يرد المربون أن القروض، حتى الميسرة، لا تحل المشكلة، بل تفاقمها، وأنهم يريدون مداخيل وليس مساعدات عابرة أو ديوناً إضافية.

تصطدم هنا عوالم عدة: نمط إنتاج فلاحي، وإن ممكنن ومحدّث، مقابل المصانع الإنتاجية الكبيرة القائمة في بلدان كهولندا والدنمارك، حيث لم يعد للأبقار الحلوب علاقة بالأرض وبالمرعى، بل باتت تولد وتربى وتحلب في بنايات من الإسمنت، وتأكل علفاً صناعياً مدراً للحليب، وتحقن بكل أنواع المواد الكيماوية. في مجلس الاتحاد الأوروبي، تنقسم المواقف من الأزمة وفق هذا المعطى، وتبرز تناقضات حادة تؤشر إلى تفاوت في درجة اللبرلة بين بلدانه. الاصطدام الثاني يجري بين المنتجين المباشرين ووسطائهم إلى التسويق، الشركات الكبرى، ومعظمها عابر للجنسيات، التي تشتري الحليب منهم وتصنعه، فتضعه في قنانٍ توزعها في السوق، أو تصنع منه الأجبان وسواها من المنتجات المشتقة، وتجففه وترسله حليب بودرة إلى البلدان الفقيرة من العالم، إلى أفريقيا والشرق الأوسط بالنسبة إلى أوروبا، بينما تتكفل الصين بالمناطق الآسيوية... وتسعى إلى توسيع سوقها، حيث تدور هنا أيضاً رحى معركة طاحنة... ولكن هذا موضوع آخر.

أما الاصطدام الثالث، فيجرى بين المنتجين من جهة، ومستغليهم من جهة أخرى، والهيئات العامة في البلدان الأوروبية في مقابلهما، والواقعة بين ناري مصالح متناقضة. وهي تميل بالطبع إلى اعتماد وجهة نظر الشركات الكبرى، ولذا تعامل مطالب المنتجين بطريقة تسكين الألم، بانتظار أن يقضي الله أمراً كان مفعولاً، أي أن يزول هؤلاء من الوجود، بالانهيار والإفلاس، أو، وكما يُقترح عليهم بلا توقف، بمساعدتهم على التحول إلى نشاطات أخرى.

وهناك رابعاً الموقف منظوراً إليه من خارج أوروبا. فمشهد الحليب المسكوب هكذا على الطرقات يثير سؤال الغذاء في العالم، حيث يموت كل يوم عشرون ألف إنسان من الجوع بمعناه الحرفي، وحيث يعاني 900 مليون إنسان من سوء التغذية الحاد. قال رئيس إحدى النقابات الفلاحية الفرنسية انه اتصل بمنظمات إنسانية عالمية قبل اتخاذ قرار سكب الحليب على الطرقات، وعرض عليها إعطاءها الحليب مجاناً لنقله إلى الجياع في العالم، فرفضت جميعها لثقل العملية وكلفتها الباهظة، إلا واحدة تعمل في بوركينا فاسو. «الكونفيدرالية الفلاحية»، وهي نقابة فرنسية يسارية، عضو في النقابة العالمية «الطريق الفلاحي»، وأحد أبرز مطلقي حركة العولمة البديلة ومؤسسي المنتديات الاجتماعية، كانت تعرف تماماً أن الفقراء لا يوجدون في بلدان بعيدة. بل أن أفريقيا في قلب باريس. قررت الكونفيدرالية تنظيم عملية توزيع محدودة جداً في ساحة أحد أحياء العاصمة. وما إن وصلت الشاحنة التي تحمل 22 ألف ليتر حليب، حتى فاضت في المكان جموع المعدمين تحمل ما تيسر من الأوعية، وتريد حليباً. ولو توافرت عشرات آلاف ليترات أخرى من الحليب، لوجدت من يتمناها...

تدمير الإنتاج من قبل أصحابه، أو منحه مجاناً، يحمل دلالة واقعية ورمزية في آن. لكنه هنا يختلف عن تدمير المانيفكتورات مع هيمنة الصناعة الكبيرة. تلك توصف بالحركة المعاكسة للتاريخ، والرجعية بالتالي. أما حين يتعلق الأمر بالغذاء، فمقاربة مختلفة تفرض نفسها. فالغذاء أساس الحياة البيولوجية للإنسان، وهو من دون سائر السلع، لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه. أما الدعوة إلى ترك السوق ينظم إنتاجه وتداوله، فيعني أن العشرين ألف ضحية يومية سيصبحون بسرعة أضعافاً مضاعفة. وأما ترك الغذاء في يد الشركات الصناعية الكبرى، فيعني تعميم نموذج شركة «مونسانتو» العملاقة: منتجات معدلة جينياً لتوفّر أعلى نسب أرباح، تقضي على التوازن البيئي بسرعة هائلة، وتنشر بين الناس الأمراض المستعصية، جديدها وقديمها، فتتكفل بالقضاء على الفائض منهم، تماماً كما كان يفعل الطاعون في الزمن الفائت، وبنى إنتاجية متخلعة تقوم على لا مكان، تكسر كل الأطر الدولتية والمجتمعية، وتفجر النزاع بين هؤلاء البشر الفائضين عن الحاجة، حروباً داخلية وإقليمية لا تتوقف، تقضي على من نجا منهم من تلك الأمراض! عالم متوحش باسم الحداثة. هنا يكتسب كل معناه المطلب الفلاحي - الذي يبدو أن الحكومة الفرنسية لا تعارضه ولكنها مرتبكة حياله، و «تضيّع المشيتين»، بأن تؤسس على المستوى العالمي، وكذلك الأوروبي، هيئات عليا رسمية تتولى الإشراف على الإنتاج الغذائي. فيكون العالم قد تعلم شيئاً من الأزمة المالية التي تعصف به، وبدأ بإعادة ترتيب أولياته، وإن محدودة.

I heart Leila

Holy land olive oil

Buy here

The Khudarji Report 17: 26/9/09

The Khudarji Report 17: 26/9/09

The Syrian soap operas for Ramadan are showing the colonialist French during the Mandate period in all of their attitude and disdainful mannerisms. It thus is rather ironic when French people from the neighborhood come into the shop right at iftar with dogs in tow looking for their salad fixings.

One of the soap operas is sponsored by a restaurant called "Tifah"--Apple.

Id al-Fitr is the one day when the mahal al-khudra is truly closed; much juggling of supply and demand takes place in order to have as little left in the shop as possible. This year was planned well; left in the shop were potatoes, cabbage, hot peppers, onions, and other "less-perishables". A customer asks: "fii fistooq?" The reply comes: "walla, maa fii shii hajjeh; khallis." Her reply, after a pause: "Bravo aleykum!"

The end of Ramadan brought the first real thundershowers with it. The winter rainy season has arrived.

Much of the neighborhood's workers are in transit at Id; those from the shop who stayed in Beirut had iftar at my house before spending the rest of the day in some of the few public spaces that Beirut affords its imported working class: The Corniche (Ramlet al-Baida or Ain al-Mreisseh); the markets of Sabra; the playing fields around Horj Beirut (during off-peak times only).

Monday and Tuesday were devoted to cleaning the store.

Wednesday was the first full day of morning and afternoon souq; it is nice to see the shop full of produce again. hashayish sold out first thing; other items were hard to keep in stock as well.

loubiyeh (green beans) are at 2,500 LL/kilo. When a customer complains about the price, it is explained that once winter comes, the price will hit 12,000 LL/kilo or more. These beans are from the south; by Friday they were down to 2,000 LL/kilo.

After stowing away the afternoon delivery, a shop worker says: "Winter is coming--that's when the good produce comes."

And he is right: Friday saw avocadoes (3,000 LL/kilo), leeks, celery, and persimmons (9,000 LL/box) arriving; spinach is back as well. Cooking onions have arrived, second to the eating onions. Bikfayya, a sweet white-fleshed peach has arrived.

Watermelon is gone.

Produce that some prefer with no seeds: grapes; with small seeds: eggplant.

Large pistachios are referred to as "ras al-kharouf"--lamb's head. They are at 6,000 LL/kilo.

One of the replacement workers for someone traveling to Syria brought back laban from his dayaa. Unlike the industrial Lebanese version of yogurt, it had a true unique taste, with cream risen and an edible skin formed on top. "That's the tastiest part", he comments.

Somalian bananas are from Guatamala; they carry the Chiquita label.

The Khudarji Report, by Zayd, reflects conditions unique to a neighborhood in central Beirut; the status at your local mahal al-khudra will most likely vary.

Badael-Alternatives

The new issue of Badael in Al Akhbar

http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/taxonomy/term/16833,18073

Chronicle of a death foretold

The end of the Export plus agricultural subsidies program? I have written so much about it (search "export plus") that I'm only posting as a formality.

The Khudarji Report 16: 19/9/09

The Khudarji Report 16: 19/9/09

To inform a customer that something is sweet, many terms are used, such as “sukkar” (sugar), “aasl” (honey), and “ananas” (pineapple).

Pineapples have returned to the market. They bear the Del Monte label and are from the Phillipines; they are at 10,000 LL/kilo. It is possible to grow a pineapple top: Look for a top that is still green on the inside. Cut off the top with about 2 cm of the fruit; tie a string around the top and hang upside down in a cool, dry, dark place for about five days. Place the top in potting soil up to the base of the leaves and water regularly. New growth should appear in 10 days to two weeks.

Pomegranates are stocked both red, ripe and sweet as well as green, immature and sour.

Kiwis are from New Zealand.

The Khudarji Report, by Zayd, reflects conditions unique to a neighborhood in central Beirut; the status at your local mahal al-khudra will most likely vary.

Stubble

Caper flowers

Sannine at sunset

Boycott meat

AMMAN –– The Consumer Protection Society (CPS) on Saturday said its campaign to boycott local and imported red meat achieved its goals by reducing meat prices across the Kingdom.

CPS President Mohammad Obeidat told The Jordan Times that the campaign, which was launched a week before Ramadan and continued throughout the entire month, lowered prices to an average of JD8 per kilo of local meat and JD5 per kilo of imported meat.

“If it wasn’t for the campaign, local meat prices would have reached JD12 or JD13 per kilo,” he claimed, adding that the campaign also played a role in driving down the prices of other foodstuff. (Thanks Marcy)

http://jordantimes.com/?news=20132

It's all about cooking

"Not only do we eat too much meat, we also eat too much of the wrong parts. We don't know where our meat comes from, we don't know what the animal we're eating ate, and we sure don't know how to get behind the stove and take control of what we put in our mouths.

We ought to start by looking at the great food cultures of the world. The traditional cuisines of Asia and North Africa, not to mention France and Italy, are based on rice, wheat, spices and smatterings of all cuts of meat. In just about every other cuisine, protein plays second fiddle to grains and vegetables. When meat appears, it does so modestly; it takes up less space on the plate, and more often than not it's a piece of the animal--tripe or oxtail--that Americans so willingly discard." (Thanks D.)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/barber

Organic

"When the economy was buoyant, more and more shoppers wanted to buy organic.

But sales growth came to a crashing halt when the recession arrived and in the past year, the organic sector has been shrinking as customers look for cheaper alternatives.

Sales of organic vegetables are down 19% while demand for organic wine and bread sales have fallen to just half what it was a year ago.

However some organic products - such as milk and peanut butter - are still getting more popular." (Thanks Muna)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8267812.stm

Kenya

"The last long rains [in April] failed completely, and we haven't had a proper wet season for at least three years. If the rains fail in October and November, we'll go into total crisis. I can't even begin to imagine how awful that would be." (Thanks Muna)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8267165.stm

Paris Celebrates Tel Aviv: Feigned Innocence باريس تحتفل بتل أبيب: البراءة المصطنعة

http://international.daralhayat.com/internationalarticle/58192 باريس تحتفل بتل أبيب: البراءة المصطنعة

الأحد, 20 سبتمبر 2009

نهلة الشهال

إنه العيد المئة لتل أبيب، أو «المدينة البيضاء» كما يسمونها. لماذا المئة؟ قرار اعتباطي، كما هو كل ما يتعلق بصناعة تاريخ لإسرائيل. ولماذا المدينة البيضاء؟ لأن واجهتها مكسوة بحجر أبيض وأملس، يستحضر تراثاً معمارياً متوسطياً.

كان المهندس الإسرائيلي شارون روتبارد قد ألف كتاباً مهماً عن تاريخ عمارة المدينة، يقول الكثير بدءاً بعنوانه: «المدينة البيضاء، المدينة السوداء»، إذ يتفحص آليات سحق مدينة يافا تحت وقع أقدام البرابرة «المودرن»، حيث قامت تل أبيب على أنقاضها، وينهيه بهذه الجملة الرهيبة: «مع أن يافا باتت مدينة ميتة، تستمر تل أبيب بتعذيب جثتها». ومن جهته، أوضح الصحافي جوناتان كوك في مقال له عام 2008، كيف أن «مشروع تجديد يافا يهدف إلى طرد الفلسطينيين». وهو كان يتناول ما قامت به بلدية تل أبيب أخيراً للتخلص ممن بقي منهم، عبر فرض غرامات باهظة على من أدخل تحسينات على مسكنه في حي العجم الخرِب، على أطراف تل أبيب الحديثة، وهو الوحيد الذي بقي مسكوناً من فلسطينيين، ومهملاً تماماً، حتى تنبهت الوكالة العقارية الرسمية «أميدار» إلى إمكان الاستفادة منه، فوجدت الحل العبقري: طرد السكان مقابل الإعفاء من الغرامات! هذا جزء من تعذيب الجثة. والغرض تحويل تل أبيب إلى مدينة صافية، ليس فحسب يهودية، بل يهودية بيضاء، أوروبية مئة في المئة، مما يشمل أيضاً التخلص من هؤلاء اليهود الفلسطينيين واليمنيين الذين سكنوا ضواحي يافا في العقد الأخير من القرن التاسع عشر، وبقيت أحياؤهم هم مهملة حتى اقتنعوا بالرحيل إلى أماكن أقل غلاء مما صارته تل أبيب.

أما الفلسطينيون، فلم تتوقف عملية إبادتهم منذ 1948، حين دمرت الجرافات 75 في المئة من يافا، وطردت 60 ألف يافاوي، ألقى بهم في البحر القصف المدفعي العنيف للمدينة، وإغلاق مداخلها من قبل منظمة الأرغون، فانتهى المطاف بمعظمهم على شواطئ غزة، وسقط بعضهم على شواطئ مدينة صور (وحملوا معهم تلك الخبرة العريقة في زراعة البرتقال «اليافاوي»، فحدّثوا بساتين لبنان). ويقوم مبنى على شاطئ تل ابيب اسمه «متحف الأرغون»، هو بحد ذاته تلخيص للواقع: منزل من طراز عربي، بأحجاره الرملية السمراء، وأقواسه، طار أعلاه فكأنما قُطع رأسه وفق خط يذكّر تماماً بالتدمير الذي يلحق بالبيوت نتيجة القصف، وأُحل محل السقف القديم بناء حديث من زجاج وفولاذ. أما جوف المنزل العربي القديم، فأُفرغ ليستقبل انجازات تلك المنظمة الصهيونية الإرهابية. هل من رمز أفصح؟

لكن منظمـــة الأونيسكــــو لا ترى ذلك، وتكــــرس تل أبيب كتراث للإنسانية، وهي ثاني مدينة حديثة تنال هـذا الشرف بعد برازيليا، تحيةً من المنظمة الثقافية الدولية للحداثة المعمارية الخلاقة التي تميز المدينة! حـــدث ذلك عام 2003، ولنا أن نظن أن العالم كان وقتها في غفلة بسبب العدوان الأميركي على العراق، وغزوه واحتلاله، فمرّ القرار بلا ضجيج ولا فضائح.

تل أبيب، المدينة الشابة، الدينامية، الكوزموبوليتية، العلمانية (بعكس القدس المتزمتة!)، الضاجة بصخب النوادي الليلية والحانات، بالشوارع والشواطئ التي تبقى مكتظة حتى الصباح، هذه الـ «تل أبيب» التي تقارنها الريبورتاجات الإعلامية العالمية ببيروت، كما فعلت أكثر من قناة تلفزيونية، وأخيراً صحيفة «نيويورك تايمز» هذا الصيف (في ما تعتبره ولا شك مديحاً للعاصمة اللبنانية التي تتنافس مع تل أبيب على المركز الأول في الـ «فاشن»)، وتل أبيب التي تفخر مدينة تورنتو الكندية بأنها حديثة ومتنوعة مثلها، لتبرير احتفالها هي الأخرى بمئويتها عبر برنامج عروض سينمائية، تل أبيب إذاً تستقبل تحيات العالم. في أوروبا وحدها، التفتت إلى تل أبيب أكثر من 15 مدينة، منذ فيينا في الربيع الفائت، وكانت سباقة، حتى بروكسيل التي قررت إهداءها سجادة من مئات ألوف زهور الإضاليا لتزيين ساحتها الرئيسية، وحتى باريس أخيراً هذا الخريف.

ولا شيء يعادل الأناقة الثقافية الباريسية. فتحت عنوان «تل أبيب 100 في المئة»، قررت البلدية برنامجاً معقداً يحتفي بـ «الغنى الفني والسينمائي والمسرحي والهندسي لأكبر مدينة في إسرائيل»: معرض فوتوغرافي في «المدينة الدولية للفنون» بعنوان «المدينة البيضاء، الحركة الحديثة في تل أبيب» يتذكر أن «عمارة المدينة تدين كثيراً لـ «البوهاوس» بفعل هجرة كثيفة من الألمان إليها في ثلاثينات القرن الفائت». هكذا! أما أنها هجرة غير طبيعية، أنتجتها الحركة الصهيونية المتواطئة آنذاك مع النازية الصاعدة، وإنْ بالصمت عنها والدعوة لترك ألمانيا لهتلر يفعل بها ما يشاء...، فهو تفصيل غير مهم. ثم تشارك 40 غاليري على امتداد مدينة الأنوار في عرض لوحات لفنانين اسرائيليين، ثم ملتقى للمسرح، وأيضاً برنامج سينمائي في «منتدى الصورة» يعرض أفلاماً إسرائيلية «مدهشة»، من دون أن يأبه لحقيقة أن تلك الأفلام، بما فيها تلك النقدية للسياسة الإسرائيلية، تتكلم عن عذابات الذات بسبب الجرائم المرتكبة، ما يستدعي بالطبع الإعجاب بهذا القدر من الضمير الحي، والتعاطف مع ضحاياه: ليس الفلسطينيين، فهؤلاء أشباح لا يُرون، بل الإسرائيليين المعذبين بسبب سياسات حكوماتهم! أما التأبيد، فيأتي من رئيس البلدية، السيد دولانويه، الذي قرر انتظار زيارة شمعون بيريز المقبلة لباريس، وهو يأمل بأن يتمكن منها بمناسبة رأس السنة العبرية المصادف اليوم بالذات، ليدشنا معاً ساحة... بن غوريون، مؤسس إسرائيل.

في تورنتو، قرر أكثر من ألف فنان وكاتب مقاطعة المهرجان، منهم جين فوندا، وأصدروا «إعلان تورنتو»، الذي يقول إن اعتداد التبرير الرسمي بتنوع تل أبيب لا معنى له ويتناسى أنها مدينة قامت على أنقاض يافا وتشريد الفلسطينيين، ويتجاهل كذلك الواقع الاحتلالي الإسرائيلي المستمر في الضفة الغربية وغزة، وهو يعادل الاحتفاء بالأحياء البيضاء من جوهانسبورغ وتجاهل سويتو، في إشارة إلى الشبه مع إفريقيا الجنوبية زمن نظام الابرتايد.

فرنسا إذ تحتفل بتل أبيب بكل هذه العادية والبراءة المصطنعة، تبرهن أن الجنرال غورو ما زال حياً، وهو القائل أمام قبر صلاح الدين عام 1920، حين دخل دمشق غازياً، محطماً الثورة العربية: «يا صلاح الدين، ها قد عدنا»، فقفز فوق الثورة الفرنسية وكل الأنوار، مستعيداً التاريخ الصليبي وثاراته. وهي تبرهن أنها لم تغادر قط عقلية «المعارض الكولونيالية» التي كانت تنظمها، خصوصاً ذاك الذي أقيم عام 1931 في العاصمة وزاره 34 مليون متفرج على نماذج بشرية من «البدائيين». يا لعارها!

Beautifully written by Nahla al Shahhal in Al Hayat

Mon share ami, this is not the way to go

An interesting source: Share The World Resources, an extensive website about sustainable economics to end world poverty, calling for a UN control over the sharing of world resources. Nice try, but the UN? A bureaucratic institution surogate to the powerful nations?

Been there, dung that

"France's most famous tourist sites on Friday to denounce the slumping cost of milk and an EU plan to end production quotas, which could further drive prices.
...
The protests follow widespread actions across Europe this week, including a group that poured several tons of milk and cow dung inside a bank in southern France on Thursday, accusing bankers of profiteering from the farmers' misery." (Thanks Daniel)

Never give up

"But Abu Wael never gave up. He fought for his land with each seed he planted that next year. In 2006 he planted watermelon. He cared for the plants and they grew well. It was time to harvest again.

Once again, there would be no harvest. Over the border came the bulldozers and they destroyed in a few violent moments what took so much effort and time to grow.

Each invasion of the tanks meant a loss of money and time and work, and more sickness and heartbreak for Abu Wael.

But still he worked, and in 2008 he planted his land with many types of vegetables. This time the Israeli tanks bulldozed the farm a few weeks before harvest.

And they never stopped. During last winter's massacres in Gaza the Israeli army destroyed Abu Wael's land again. It was planted with cabbage and other vegetables. They destroyed the whole land as well as the irrigation system. So now the farm is nothing. Abu Wael cannot plant because there is no water to irrigate the fields with.

That's how it is in Beit Hanoun. The farmers sow the seeds of wholesome provision, for themselves and their families and their people, and the Israeli forces destroy it. So the farmers come back to plant. And the tanks and bulldozers come back to destroy it again. And the farmers come back to plant." (Thanks Marcy)

Marryam Haleem in Electronic Intifada

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10769.shtml

Hummusland

"BEIRUT: Lebanon will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest servings of hummus and tabouleh as part of a campaign to claim ownership of the traditional dishes. The attempt to break the world records will take place in the Saifi market in Downtown Beirut on October 24 and 25. The dishes are expected to stretch some 5,800 square kilometers. The two-day event will also see the participation of several Lebanese restaurants and artisans from the oil, souvenirs and craftsmanship industries, as well as a variety of entertainers, games and auctions."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=106619

I'm all for claiming ownership in order to take business out of the Israeli's but how exactly will the guiness book help with that, I am not sure. I mean you could make the biggest hummus dish on antarctica, does this make in a penguin dish? I hate these wasteful "largest dish" events.

Seedy business

"Between the heavy acronyms and technical terms used by the UN figures, government officials and industry representatives, the conference illustrated two clear themes; firstly, the desire of Northern-based business to continue a process of enclosure of key farming inputs such as seeds by way of technology. Secondly, a push by these same companies (supported by the US and EU countries) for an extension and tightening of intellectual property rights on plant genetic resources into the national law of poorer countries.

Under the guise of innovation and progress, breeding companies suggest that seed varieties developed in laboratories in the North and then sold to poorer farmers in the South can raise yields in crops, increase nutritional values, reduce pesticide and fossil fuels use as well as conserve biodiversity. In the words of one participant at the conference, his company utilised ‘the art and science of changing the genetics of plants for the benefit of humankind.’" (Thanks Daniel)

http://www.counterpunch.org/willoughby09162009.html

This is a very good article by R. Willoughby. He reviews the situation and offers alternative paradigms, based on civil sociaty and community groups. Unfortunately, I do not really think that civil society is up to it, especially if lured by money from compacts with the private sector, promoted by international organizations.

Cherry cucumber

In the Chouf region of Lebanon, where they grow a lot of pine trees for pine nuts production, they also eat the green, unripe pine cones. They call them "the cherries of the cucumber" because they look like cherry (?) and taste like cucumber (??). (Photo al safir)

Le Monde Diplo

The Arabic edition of Le Monde Diplomatique is excellent. In the September issue, there is an article by Sami el Atiyyeh on the current situation of Arab States and their lack of vision, nurturing and planning that must remain a classic. But I cant link because the issue they have on their website is that of August.

Courting Turkey

It is time to take Turkey to the international court of justice for its premeditated drying of the Tigris and the Euphrates and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of livelihoods, says Alaa' el Lamy, an Iraqi writer. Instead, Arab countries are always courting Turkey: today Bashar al Asad declared that there will be no direct negotiations with israel except in the presence of Turkey.

Eurotrade

Al Akhbar had an interesting article in its economy page today, on what it calls the "missed opportunities of (food) export to the EU". 6 years ago, Lebanon signed a trade agreement with the EU to encourage bilateral trade. Trade from the EU to Lebanon increased but not the other way around, although there are quotas for Lebanon. The reason, according to the writer, is that Lebanese farmers were not trained into "cleaner" production and that Lebanese produce has too many pesticide residues for allowing access to the EU. I think this is only part of the story: our traditional markets are the Arab countries, and someone I know who has one of the largest fresh produce trading companies in Lebanon told me that he makes much more money selling locally than exporting, and the export to the EU was complicated and not very lucrative because of risks and logistics. There is more to dig into here, but the figures speak: export to the EU: 300 million euros (of which just 4 million euros are fresh foods and vegetables). Imports from the EU: 3.9 billion euros.

And finally some good news

"Britain’s biggest trade union Unite, has confirmed it will be backing a boycott of Israeli goods proposed by the Fire Brigades Union, along with public sector trade union, Unison.
Unison and Unite’s support will now make the FBU’s chance of successfully getting the TUC to agree to the motion far greater." (Thanks Muna)

BDS is working, and I think we should all be working on it in a much more organized way. It has the potential of bringing in all the atomized activists around a powerful issue.

Sinking further

"Sink holes are natural depressions in the land’s surface caused by the removal of underlying soil or bedrock by water. Varying in size from less than a metre to several hundred metres in diametre and depth, they swallow up whatever was resting on them previously. Dozens of farmers and their families have had to be evacuated from areas close to the Dead Sea after an increasing number of sink holes appeared, some five meters wide and equally deep. There are around 800 sink holes on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea that have appeared over the past decade and nearly 1,200 on the Israeli and Palestinian side. "A lot of farmland is being abandoned. Farms are being destroyed. Even houses and factories have been evacuated because of the sink holes," said Mehyar. " (Thanks Marcy)

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86137

Labeled food in Jordan

The Jordanian government approved the labeling of food imported from Israel in order to allow people to make their own choices. How grand. My dear friend Marcy who doesn't joke with these things has an excellnt post about it:

Last week i went to the downtown amman souq to go grocery shopping. i wanted some fresh fruits and vegetables and i loathe supermarkets. i thought that i mind find the market to be free of foreign goods, but i was wrong. and worse: much of the foreign imports were unmarked. i did find a few products to have stickers–such as watermelon from syria, bananas from saudi arabia, and apples from the united states (photos below). but buying local proved to be very difficult. even one of the main products of jordan–olive oil–was no where to be found. but i did find regional olive oil from syria, so that was fine with me. apparently, friends who are in the know tell me that big jordanian olive oil producers seeking to get rich are exporting their olive oil to the u.s. and the zionist entity in lieu of leaving enough around for local consumption.

Read more here: http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/on-labeling-food/

big corporations, small people.

“How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?” said Mrs. Hall-Massey, a senior accountant at one of the state’s largest banks." (Thanks Yaz)

Water pollution in impunity in the US.

Guatemala food crisis

"Guatemala has been hit by severe food shortages, with some 54,000 families living in the east of the country facing a critical situation.

President Alvaro Colom last week declared a "state of public calamity" to try to mobilise funding to tackle severe food shortages in the country." (Thanks Muna)

Shaqlawa, Erbil by night

We went to Shaqlawa today. It is a small resort town in the mountains about an hour North East of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, in northern Iraq. To get there, you take the Salaheddine road, which goes through the rich suburbs of Erbil, and not far from Saddam's summer palace, now housing the president of Kurdistan.

Shaklawa looks like many resort towns in the Arab world, and it reminded me of Slonfeh in Syria, except that Shaqlawa is much drier, although I am told winter snows are redoubtable. Most of the greenery is accumulated in the wadis, where it should be. And this is also where the town is built.

Shaklawa High Street is dominated by touristic restaurants, cell phone shops, clothes shops and shops selling traditional sweets and nuts. You find a lot of those in the Erbil souk too, but our driver told me Shaklawa's products are well know, and worth tasting.

The ropey stuff hanging from the ceiling looks like sausages, and is called "sujki" which means sausage. But in reality they are sweet and nutty; the white ones are made from flour and milk and filled with wallnut, and the black ones are made from gelled grape molasses and stuffed with wallnuts. Very good stuff, made in Sulaymaniyya, another Kurdish town

There is a vary famous sweet in Iraq called "mann wa salwa' and the shop keeper told me that this is the manna that fell from heaven. Above is a sample of a globalized heavenly manna, a mixture of divine sweets and jelly beans.

But there are also a lot of very traditional, home made products. I found some qamareddine, which I went to Damascus to look for only last week. It is also called qamareddine in Kurdistan, and made with apricots (above) and pears (the lighter one below) and sour prunes.

Sour prunes are also used to make a very interesting jam, sold in bulk with the pits (?). It tastes good but it is, expectedly, quite sour.

Shaklawa is half and half Christian and Muslim Kurds, and there is a small Christian mazar, a shrine, hidden in the mountains. I hiked up, a very nice walk (but too short) and the view is beautiful (although my phone cam did not really capture the majesty of the landscape). Beyond the far mountains is Iran.

The mazar was not particularily interesting and consisted of a half fallen wall and 3 caves smelling of melted candle wax.

Back to Erbil. After the Iftar, Erbil comes back to life a second time. Although the old food souk remains closed, vendors take over the sidewalks. They sell mostly sweets, food, juice, music cds and dvds and men's underwear. Below is a picture of a kebab vendor in Erbil city center: artery clogging material.

Most shops in the covered souk close after iftar and clothes and textile vedors take over the place. I love the Kurdish women's dress and their fondness for colorful and shiny material. It is not Damascus' Souk al Hameediyyeh at night, but it is nice too.

Water: tension seeking behavior

"BEIRUT, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - The politics of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a rugged sliver of mountainside wedged between Lebanon, Israel and Syria, have long overshadowed what some Lebanese environmentalists call “the real issue” of the disputed area: its water resources.

Now activists are calling for hydro-diplomacy to take precedence over political manoeuvring as the most effective solution to one of the key stumbling blocks to Middle East peace.

Rising Temperatures Rising Tensions, a report published in June by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, considers water to be a major trigger for conflict in the Middle East, the world’s most water scarce region." (Thanks Marcy)

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86092

A few days ago, someone from the BBC called me to ask me if I could talk about water as a source of conflict in the Middle East, especially between Israelis and Arabs. I told them that the idea is ludicrous, because:

1. There is already a war going on between Israel and the Arab people, including the Palestinians, Lebanese, and others. The cause of the war is not water, and it doesn't look like it is ending soon.

2. There is no water issue: Israel takes what it wants and refuses to subscribe to international ruling. Arab regimes watch powerlessly and sometimes offer a helping hand. Where are the seeds of the conflict here?

3. Does anyone really believe that the current Arab regimes will go to war with Israel over water? I mean how silly can one be?

The person who was talking to me agreed, but said that this would not make a "good" news item. The concept that water scarcity may trigger war in a "volatile region" that is drying due to climate change is so much more romantic. It is as if Arabs do not really have a problem with occupation, oppression, massacres, theft of land and colonialism: no, they only have one problem with Israel: water. So once you get them around a table to discuss this and share the water among themselves, then the tensions will disappear. Incidentally, one of the problems with this approach is that it presumes a recognition of Israel. Could this be why the "international community of charitable world cops" is always trying to brandish the water scarecrow and make Arabs and Israelis get together and talk about it, as if the future of humanity depended on it? I have a suggestion: why doesn't Israel give back all it has stolen since its creation, and there will be no water problem left between Israel and the Arabs.

The Khudarji Report 15: 12/9/09

Another quiet week; complaints about Ramadan prices are heard not just in the mahal but everywhere.

Much discussion is given to the current crop of soap operas; beit ij-jidde and baab al-harra are watched by most; nabi Yusuf not by anyone. Many complain about the portrayal of Yusuf by an actor. Imm S. adamantly sticks by her Turkish soaps. When I joke with her that on the Turkish soap operas everyone is always crying, she replies, “ay, bass kwayyess ktiir”.

The difference between Turkish and Syrian soap operas comes down to food. There is no food in Turkish soap operas; whereas no matter what is going on in a Syrian soap opera--siege of the town by the French; fights in the street; death, mayhem, amshakal--there is always food being bought, sold, prepared, cooked, or eaten. Always. The theory in the mahal is this is the real reason everyone in Turkey is crying; they’ve given up their alphabet as well as their food culture.

The French who work and live in the neighborhood refuse to learn any Arabic; a vocabulary of translated fruit and vegetable terms hangs on the wall in order to accomodate them.

The French in their purchases have no problem with the concept of “by the kilo”. The British on the other hand tend to want fixed quantities--two apples; six tomatoes.

Mangoes are currently from Queensland, Australia. They ship green and hard; they are not very tasty.

The Khudarji Report, by Zayd, reflects conditions unique to a neighborhood in central Beirut; the status at your local mahal al-khudra will most likely vary.

The Khudarji Report 14: 5/9/09

A quiet week in the mahal; not much to report.

Peach and nectarine season is winding down. A second kind of eating orange has joined the juice orange that has been the only citrus in the store apart from lemons.

Some iftar dishes based on mahal purchases: lubiyeh bi zeit; cucumbers with laban and garlic and mint; stuffed cabbage leaves; fried cauliflower; salad of potatoes with hard boiled egg; stuffed tomatoes and peppers; fattoush; cabbage salad; iceberg salad; mtabbal; french-fried potatoes.

The Khudarji Report, by Zayd, reflects conditions unique to a neighborhood in central Beirut; the status at your local mahal al-khudra will most likely vary.

People I met

I am carrying out a rapid survey of agriculture in the area surrounding the city of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, in Iraq. I have posted earlier about Erbil, its agriculture and its food traditions (see here, here and here), and will do more soon. But this post is about some very interesting people I have met during my work today.

Those who know me and who have been following this blog will know that I am carrying out research on a Bedouin community in Lebanon, the Abu Eid, a branch of the `Anezeh tribe. So when I saw a Beduin tent and lots of sheep and some goats, I just had to go and check it out. I met Ali, below, who took me to his family.

Ali's family is from the Shummar tribe, and they come from the area around Mosul. They seem to be established around Erbil, where it is much safer. They have about 300 heads of sheep, although there could be more grazing elsewhere. They also had a couple of pickup trucks and a huge 6 wheels truch to move the sheep. They told me they were doing fine financially, and they sell the milk and the meat to the Erbil market.

I used the three words of Bedouin dialect I know, and they invited me into the tent. I saw these very nice quilts, very similar to the ones I have seen in the houses and the tents of the Lebanese Bedouin.

I asked these two Bedouin women if I could take their pictures. They both have beautiful face and hand tatoos, very fine, typical of the Iraqi Bedouin tatoos. Unfortunately, as I used my phone to take photos, they don't show very well.

Very close to the Bedouin camp, I met another Arab family from Mosul. There are many Arab farm workers around Erbil, and, according to one of the Kurdish land owners, they are the main source of farm labor in the area. I talked to the men, who are working as wage laborers on the lands of one of the Kurdish village sheikh's. They agreed to let me take their pictures.

Honnit soit qui Mali pense

"Indeed, the Macina Cercle is a farming region and in terms of area the largest rice-producing region in the Office du Niger. It is not just an animal farming region par excellence but also a transit and departure region for transhumant livestock.

Therefore, whilst Mali’s government declares its commitment to guaranteeing food self-sufficiency for the country, it continues to sign a worrying number of agreements with foreign investors. This allows the latter to control the country’s most important agricultural land." (Thanks Rania)

http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=785&Itemid=36

Banned aid

"A quarter century ago, Bob Geldof's Band Aid Campaign raised an estimated $242 million to fight famine in Ethiopia. In the elapsed 25 years, Ethiopia's population has doubled, the world's climate has become increasingly unstable, the Ethiopian government has successfully avoided the repetition of famine, and Bob Geldof has successfully evaded taxes." (Thanks Annie)

The food-health disconnect

"The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care. The president has made a few notable allusions to it, and, by planting her vegetable garden on the South Lawn, Michelle Obama has tried to focus our attention on it. Just last month, Mr. Obama talked about putting a farmers’ market in front of the White House, and building new distribution networks to connect local farmers to public schools so that student lunches might offer more fresh produce and fewer Tater Tots. He’s even floated the idea of taxing soda.

But so far, food system reform has not figured in the national conversation about health care reform. And so the government is poised to go on encouraging America’s fast-food diet with its farm policies even as it takes on added responsibilities for covering the medical costs of that diet. To put it more bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.

Why the disconnect? Probably because reforming the food system is politically even more difficult than reforming the health care system. At least in the health care battle, the administration can count some powerful corporate interests on its side — like the large segment of the Fortune 500 that has concluded the current system is unsustainable."

Michael Pollan http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?pagewanted=1&em

Badael-Alternatives

In Badael this week: my editorial "A common scene". And in the Ramadan spirit, Muhammad Muhsin writes about ramadan sweets and different suhour options.

Journey to Syria

Back from a 2-days trip to Syria to look into a new project for documenting Syria’s very rich food heritage. I have posted many times this year about Syria (search the blog under Syria), latest about a trip to one of the coutry’s food capitals, Aleppo. This time, my colleague and I visited the south of the country, the Jabal al `Arab region also known as Jabal al Druze, or the Druze mountain. The Jabal is an elevated range overlooking the Hauran plain, and home to a significant Druze population, as well as to Christians and Muslims. According to my friend Kamal Abu Hassan, the Druze population of the Jabal settled there in 1711, when the Yamani branch of the Lebanese Druze left Lebanon after the victory of the Qaysi branch in the battle of Ayn Dara. The Jabal is known for the Druze Revolt against the French (1925-1927) led by Sultan Basha al Atrash, a great Arab military leader. The area is stunning and receives lots of snow. Below is a picture of a mountain dam at 1400 m altitude, with, in the background, an apple orchard belonging to our friends and hosts, the Abu Hassan family who live between Sweida (the capital of the Sweida governorate where the Jabal is located) and Beirut. Incidentally, the Sweida governorate is the size of lebanon: 10,000km2.

The Jabal al `Arab is known for many food products. It is almost virgin territory, but new urban developments are quickly sprouting everywhere. The area is one of the nuclear centers of origin of lentils, chickpea, wheat and barley. It also has, according to the local agricultural experts, 37 different grape varieties, most of which are old local stocks. Among these are the baladi, the helwani, the salti (which came from Salt, in Jordan), the qarri, the `anouni and the late maturing qasufi. The local people make both wine and arak, as well as raisins and grape molasses.

One of the famous grapes region is Qanawat, a small village built around the ruins of a Roman temple crafted in black basalt, where grapes are the most common fresco design. In the pictures below, the Roman temple and a grapevine, and below, a detail of one of the frescoes.

Below is a photo of clusters of unripe helwani grapes looking exactly like the sculpture above. We were told that on the Damascus market, the price of the grapes from Sweida is at least double that of grapes from other regions of Syria.

There are many other products of interest in Sweida, such as the kitha' which is a dried yoghurt used in the cooking of the mansaf, a dish common in Jordan (which is right next door). The best milk for making kitha' originates from the East of Sweida, in the Badia al Safra where the pastures give a special taste to the ewe's milk.

A day in Damascus

There are so many things one can see in Damamscus, but what I love most are the narrow streets (zuqaq, plural: aziqqah) in the old quarters. They are great to walk in the day as in the night. Below is a beautiful zuqaq in the Saruja quarter, not too far from the Hamidiyyeh district.

Saruja is like a little self-contained village: below is the street baker who still makes old damascene breads in a basalt stone oven. He makes 4 kinds of breads I had never heard of: the mashluh, the manqush, the manqush barakeh (with black seed-nigella) and the farani, which is like the mashluh, but with black seed. He also makes what he called kubz mawi, and which he described as "a Palestinian bread, like a bun". I only tasted the first 4 as the mawi dough was not ready yet.

mashluh bread

manqush bread

But the real reason behind our Damascus day was to investigate the processing of qamaruddine, dried apricot paste . It is a flagship product of Damascus, made in the green belt of the city, in the Ghuta area. We have learned a lot about qamareddine. The best qamareddine is apparently made in the town of `Arbin in the Ghuta, exclusively from the kleybi apricot variety. Two kinds of qamareddine are made: the yellowish commercial type, in which the sugar content is brought up to 30% using commercial corn sugar, and the home made traditional type, which has a dark orange color and tastes great. Below is a picture of both products.

Kleybi apricot tree in the Ghuta

Night in Damascus during Ramadan is endless: people go to sleep with sunrise, and food is celebrated every night throughout the month. The Midan food market is a must see place: colors, lights, people, smells and food, food and food.

Sweets have the lion's share, shop after shop of selling delectable baclawa and other traditional pastries. All looked clean, quality control provided by the gentleman in the dark glasses in the picture below: big brother.

Here, one can find rows upon rows of muhallabiyya (a milk pudding) waiting to be consumed alongside shops selling spices from all over the world, a reminder of Syria's once crucial location, at the center of the spice road...

Off to Syria

For a few days to start my new project on Syria's food heritage

Industry standards

"The green checkmark label that is starting to show up on store shelves will appear on hundreds of packages, including — to the surprise of many nutritionists — sugar-laden cereals like Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops.

“These are horrible choices,” said Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health.

He said the criteria used by the Smart Choices Program were seriously flawed, allowing less healthy products, like sweet cereals and heavily salted packaged meals, to win its seal of approval. “It’s a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I’m afraid, not credible,” Mr. Willett said." (Thanks Anna)

Good food at school

"We are learning that when schools serve healthier meals, they solve serious educational and health-related problems. But what's missing from the national conversation about school lunch reform is the opportunity to use food to teach values that are central to democracy. Better food isn't just about test scores, health and discipline. It is about preparing students for the responsibilities of citizenship." (Thanks Mike)

I tried it this year: I asked the cafeteria to serve only local, Lebanese food. We had a nutritionist draw menus for 6 months based on traditional recipes. I also talked to the students about it, and allowed them to use the cafeteria kitchen one evening a week to cook whatever they like. Carbonated soft drinks and juice made from powder were banned. It worked well with the menus and the nutrition, but the student's were craving burgers and hotdogs and junk food throughout the 6 months. We also faced the problems of drinks with food: many are used to something more than water, and after mid April, oranges become too expensive for fresh juice. We made a lot of fresh lemonade, but this is full of white sugar. we tried youghurt drinks, but few people like it. We also made rose water drinks and mulberry drinks, but the basis is also a lot of white sugar. Also, good food is more expensive and this could be an important consideration. But I carry on with the traditional local food in the cafeteria.

Africa and the food crisis

"OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER: Hunger is usually seen by the international agencies either as a production problem or one of availability – the FAO seeks to encourage more production, and the WFP to deliver food where it is needed, for instance following bad harvests or resulting from conflict situations… The root causes of hunger are discrimination and marginalisation, lack of accountability of governments to the needs of their population, or in adopting of policies that aggravate hunger instead of alleviating it. A framework based on the right to adequate food obliges us to include these questions – questions of governance if you like, or of accountability – into our answers to the hunger issue. Without this – without accountability mechanisms and a protection of the entitlements of the poorest – our solutions will remain short-term, insufficiently targeted, and ultimately ineffectual. It may result in increased production but completely fails to reduce the scourge of hunger. The right to food is therefore a vital part of the panoply of answers we have to develop against hunger." (Thanks Daniel)

If you've ever doubted that Zionism is racism

Then check the comments on this article. (Thanks Adeem)

The title alone is telling: Gaza's sewage directly threatens hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, but it is an issue because it may pollute the beaches in Occupied Palestine.

The Global Water Challenge

With thanks to Laila

Iraq: salted Faw

"Local inhabitants say that wildlife, including palm trees and Faw’s famous henna trees, as well as agriculture and livestock are already dying as a result of the crisis, resulting in severe economic difficulties for those living along the water." (Thaks Layla)

Superstars 2009

From today's front page of Al Akhbar

Menassat again

For those interested in the Menassat issue, check Nicolien's comment on my previous post. It is true that I do not have all the facts for this particular case, but we seem to agree that "who pays the piper calls the tune". I still maintain that those of us who want to sing the social change tune should carefully select who pays the piper, or even better, play for free. Menassat or no Menassat.

Keep the pressure

"As members of the Canadian and international film, culture and media arts communities, we are deeply disturbed by the Toronto International Film Festival’s decision to host a celebratory spotlight on Tel Aviv. We protest that TIFF, whether intentionally or not, has become complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine.

...

Furthermore, what this description does not say is that Tel Aviv is built on destroyed Palestinian villages, and that the city of Jaffa, Palestine’s main cultural hub until 1948, was annexed to Tel Aviv after the mass exiling of the Palestinian population. This program ignores the suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants of the Tel Aviv/Jaffa area who currently live in refugee camps in the Occupied Territories or who have been dispersed to other countries, including Canada. Looking at modern, sophisticated Tel Aviv without also considering the city’s past and the realities of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, would be like rhapsodizing about the beauty and elegant lifestyles in white-only Cape Town orJohannesburg during apartheid without acknowledging the corresponding black townships of Khayelitsha and Soweto."

Look at the list of signatories, it includes Naomi Klein, Slavoj Zizek and even...Jane Fonda who, as my friend Angry Arab always says, came to cheer the Israeli troops when they invaded Lebanon in 1982...The wind is turning?

Meanwhile the Slow Food people are still celebrating the Tel Aviv farmer's market. How myopic can these major players in the "Food Movement" be?

More Menassat

More on the Menassat issue, by Rita Barotta, with whom I agree: she raises strongly the issu of donor dependency.