US HIPocrisy: 3,770 Calories/Day vs. 2,440 in India
NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet.Americans eat an average of 3,770 calories per capita a day, the highest amount in the world, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, compared to 2,440 calories in India (see chart above, click to enlarge). They are also the largest per capita consumers in any major economy of beef, the most energy-intensive common food source, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The United States and Canada top the world in oil consumption per person, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
13 Comments:
You'll get my Big Mac when you pry it from my cold, dead, greasy, chubby fingers.
it's the world's addiction to oil, not america's addiction to fat that is driving up food costs. one twenty a barrel for crude begets five a bushel for corn. let's use the right arguments in the right places - k?
Could you post the source of this graphic, please?
Americans can't read either.
From the graphic named "diet.bmp"
"all data include consumption as food, seed, industrial and waste."
"Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture"
The 25% to 30% of the corn crop going to the production of ethanol is also included in the graphics numbers. Etc.
Besides if Americans ate 3,770 calories per day on average (for everyone including babies) we'd be a nation where morbid obesity is considered normal.
The false premise here is that "we" "blame" India for anything.
I think it's great they are becoming better off.
"They" certainly have as much right to buy commodities at market prices as "we" do.
Nations, after all, are arbitrary lines on maps.
I can't think of any moral basis to think differently about an individual in India versus an individual in Kansas or Oregon.
Diz said...
"I can't think of any moral basis to think differently about an individual in India versus an individual in Kansas or Oregon."
How about the burning of brides?
We see the biggest disparity is corn consumption. 70 - 75% of corn goes to animal (pig and cattle, etc.) feed, so our consumption of beef directly affects our corn consumption.
Another major use of corn is corn syrup, which heavily contributes to obesity.
In both of these cases, I see the real problem as the bloated corn subsidies which make corn production so attractive and therefore widely used. If we had a real market-based valuation, perhaps the prices of these goods would direct healthy consumption levels.
And then our over-eating with a diets based more on subsidized beef and corn (including corn syrup in everything) leads to more obesity and heart-disease which leads to higher health care costs.
Does that mean that when my Mom told me to eat everything on my plate because "people are starving in India" she was lying? Say it ain't so.
I would like to see a chart of total calories consumed in the U.S. vs India. Not per capita, total. And then I want to see a graph of the increase in total consumption in India. Then, I want a pony.
thanks for the snark, anonymous anonymous. I meant what publication Dr. Perry snagged the graphic from.
anon says: "How about the burning of brides?"...
How about it? Burnt brides taste like chicken... Lots of calories there...
oooooooooooooooooooookay. interesting but nrelated to my assignment.
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