Media forum Greenaccord in Naples:
‘We are rapidly running out of time solving the hunger problem’
‘How could we ensure equal wellbeing to 9 billion people in 2050 or 12 billion of 2100, if we are unable to do the same for 7 billion people today?’ Andrea Masullo, president of the Greenaccord Scientific Committee, put up this question at the end of an international media forum, held in Naples from 8 -11 October. This forum about feeding the world, food, agriculture and environment was organized by Greenaccord*. About 100 journalists from all over the world joined this forum.
The Italian agricultural journalists association UNAGA was a partner in the organization and ENAJ gave his patronage to the forum. Every member association/guild of ENAJ was able to send one or two journalists to this media forum. Some of the world’s leading experts on agricultural and food production participated in this event. They tried form their perspective to give an answer to the question of Andrea Massulo. He concluded at the end of the forum that the speakers portraited a world with plenty of problems but capable of solving them. ‘In the world today sufficient food is produced to eradicate hunger; yet, a number of people eat too much and waste food, generating the problem of non-equal distribution. The solution might seem very simple and feasible’, he said. But the solution isn’t simple. The Greenaccord president blamed the current economic system, that nourishes itself on differences; the rich, in order to be rich, need to exploit the poor. ´We are still in time to avoid irreversible damage for the future generations but time is also rapidly running out.´
Solutions will be on the agenda too of the World Expo, held in Milan, Italy from the 1st of May to the 31st of October. The exposition is about Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. During the media forum in Naples the World Expo was one of the items. RAI Television explained how they prepare the Italians with short flashes ended with a question. One of them is about GMO´s in which is explained why carrots are orange? It´s because of the princess of Orange who asked in the 17th century growers to grow a orange carrot instead of white or purple. It was a huge success, so that now everyone thinks carrots are orange. GMO´s are the next step in growing. `How far are we allowed to go`, is the question RAI asked.
*Greenaccord is a non-profit association with Christian inspiration, founded to be of service to the world of information and training that deals with environmental issues. The association is made up of journalists and professionals who volunteer their time to provide training to their colleagues. www.greenaccord.org