WAR AND FOOD

B8 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 10, 1993

Remember victims of

the hunger weapon

EMEMBRANCE

Day is set aside 10

think abou! — the

people who fought for us in past wars.

For such a unique day, | thought about what to wrile about in a nutrition column.

What I came up with {s some stories about how food has been (and is now) used as a weapon in wars,

We are all familiar with the story of the Trojan’ horse - You know, the big horse that was filled with soldiers; and left out- side the gates of Troy?

It was taken into the city, and the soldiers climbed out during the night and conquered the city.

But have “you ever ‘thought about why the horse was there in the first place?

The city of Troy was under siege. This is a tactic used in war to try lo starve the people of a city into surrendering.

The soldiers of an opposing force surround a city and don’t let anything in or out, Thal means — that no food can be taken in, nothing to drink, and no supplics of any other kind. = _

This military tactic has been, used throughout history . with varying degrees of success.

In the American civil war, the North blockaded the Soulh. They. surrounded all the southern porls with their navy, and wouldn’t al- low any goods through. A mas- sive black market developed trad- ing in coffee and sugar, a3 well as” other perishables,

Margaret Mitchell’s Rhett But- ler gained his fame as a blockade runner during the civil war.-.

During the second. world war there were a number of sieges. The most famous of these are the sieges of Paris and of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). .

Paris was placed undersiege by the Nazis, and was eventually starved.into submission. It was occupled by the Axis Nations during : a good part of World War . 2. °

dee ane

people, ‘about one half died.

Teabhins Values and Virtues to Children

Mr. E> MUTTART,

B.8c., M.Ed, BSc (Camegia inctituta of Tachnology, Pittsburgh) and Master of Education (U1B.C., Vancouver) educator and worldtraveler, presents a stimulating workshop for parents, teachers, and social workers on how to teach chitdren those values and virtues that make for harmonious human relationships and positive self- esteem.

The workshop fea of $7.00 can be.paid.at the door. Refreshments served,

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NUTRITION NOTES . GERRY KASTEN

| Goldstar.

The siege started with food strictly rationed, and restaurants closed down. By the time the siege had progressed, people would boil bricfcases to make jel- ly, and cat their pets or the local crows. Bread sold for 600 rubles per. kilo on the black market,

“Today in Africa we have some of the best (or actually the worst) examples of using food as a weapon against people.

We first saw this phenomenon in Ethiopia; where “people were driven and herded from fertile areas into “refugee camps", The fertile area were razed, and be- came dry and barten, and soon the nation wasn’t able to support agriculture.

Only now is Ethiopia finally

rebuilding their food supply.

_ This year we've faced the spec- tre of Somalia. People eat only at UN run soup kitchens. Prior to

the world’s intervention, over

350,000 people had died,

But in ateas without a foreign » black . market still thrives, selling stolen

military presence, - the,

relief supplics. Next year it’s likely we'll sce

the same thing happen in Sudan. ~

Food shipments have already been interrupted by both rebel troops and the government.

Relief. workers have been at- tacked by troops, This is ‘that much sadder because the Sudanese have always been good at supporting their own food needs.

What solutions do we have to the problem of food being used as a weapon?

One option is to support relict organizations like the Red Cross or UNICEF.

' One suggestion is to live for a few days on skim milk powder, _

rice and vegetable oil. This is the emergency rations that we send to nations that need relief. The moncy saved can be donated to

. charity.

Another option is to add your voice to those calling for dis- armament. Do we need to spend money on more arms? Do we need’ fo carn money by selling arms?

Wars are unlikely to stop hap- pening overnigh!, but thinking about ways to stop the effects of war on people like you and me is the first step in ending the horror.

Gerry Kasten is a community —

nutritionist with the Skeena

Health Unit.

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