The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Invisible Hunger, Murderous Society

Nov 10, 2014

An October report by the World Journal of Food on the state of hunger in the world presents an overwhelming constant.

While undernourishment has been reduced in several countries, like China or Viet Nam, it grows in parts of Africa, showing up in increased levels of infant mortality.

This “invisible hunger,” which keeps advancing, is characterized by a shortage of vitamins and minerals in the diet. It leads to a higher incidence of infant and maternal mortality, weakening of the immune system and the central nervous systems, and the development of physical handicaps.

A recent U.N. meeting on food put an accent on the “explosion in the price of agricultural staples,” and the lack of institutions to control these prices. While in decline today, the prices of staples have faced a speculative wave in previous years. For the populations of poor countries, the price of these basic foods has surged. Prices have scarcely come down since.

Food shortages of this wave of “invisible hunger” cause between one and three million deaths of undernourished infants every year. These deaths are not tied to a lack of food resources on the level of the planet, but rather to the insanity of the capitalist market.