hunger, poverty, population growth...

the latest from the e2 - eye on earth | worldwatch institute blog:

"in the philippines, less of what women want" by r. engelman

One of the dozens of countries around the world where hunger is back in the news is the Philippines, where soaring rice prices and long-standing reliance on imported food are raising an old question many people thought was buried for good: Does population growth eventually run into the limits of food production?

In More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want, I suggest this question will never be put to rest - not, at least, until populations stop growing. And, in fact, the recent surge in food prices is beginning to spur stories in the news media suggesting that population growth is indeed an important factor-perhaps especially in the Philippines. See, for example, this recent story by David Montero in The Christian Science Monitor. But let's leave that debate aside for a later blog, and focus for a moment on another aspect of human numbers in the Philippines.

The country's high population growth rate of 2 percent annually stems in large part from governmental hostility to modern contraception. That point is documented in another recent newspaper story, this one by Blaine Harden of The Washington Post. It's hard to believe that in 2008 a national government would try to quell the use of oral contraceptive pills, IUDS, and condoms. Most women and their partners around the world use these devices, and most sexually active people in wealthy countries take their availability for granted. ...

more on access to contraception in the phillippines (and here)

about the worldwide food riots (or here)

later add (h/t feministe):

food is a feminist issue @ diary of an anxious black woman

the rising cost of food = very real hunger @ feminocracy