Yours is also mine

November 26, 2008 4:14 AM

"Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies as shown by this map.
The resentment rises as villagers are stripped of holdings and livelihood in Laos; and land prices are soaring in Brazil.
Here are some of the biggest deals.

Meanwhile for the poor Business as Usual is not a viable option. We Are now in the age of Hyper-exploitation and its aftermath.
A Food Security Guide.
Obesity. Family farms. Food safety. School meals. Food access. Immigrant rights. Peak oil. Global warming. World hunger.
Food ties it all together.

posted by adamvasco (14 comments total)

Damn you, food.
posted by chlorus at 4:30 AM on November 26, 2008

The haves and the have mores are at it again! This is from October 2006 in Paraguay, South America. Food and shelter?
posted by threadbare at 4:36 AM on November 26, 2008

The rich get fatter. Then the rich spend way too much money worrying about how fat they are.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:45 AM on November 26, 2008

Thanks adamvasco. This post addresses the line of work I am in--food security & urban ecology. What is amazing is how fast the awareness is growing in terms of how screwed we are and the impact that global agriculture has had on taking us down the road of destruction.
posted by tarantula at 5:26 AM on November 26, 2008

see also: http://www.grain.org/go/landgrab
posted by yeoz at 5:55 AM on November 26, 2008 [1 favorite]

I leased an acre of land in Lao from a village chief back in 2001. That didn't work out so well for me. Neither did the 10 year lease I had on my business property.
posted by gman at 6:14 AM on November 26, 2008

Isn't this the plot from Quantum of Solace?
posted by jourman2 at 6:15 AM on November 26, 2008

If they are buying then that means someone is selling and in turn means the land is/was for sale.
I want to start wringing my hands in despair, but I am not sure what I would do it for here.
posted by a3matrix at 6:15 AM on November 26, 2008

This land is your land, this land is my land
From Cambodia to the Indonesian Islands.
From the Amazon Rain Forest Forest to the Gulf of Venezuela waters
This land was made for you and me.
posted by gman at 6:37 AM on November 26, 2008

If they are buying then that means someone is selling and in turn means the land is/was for sale.

because every government always asks nice and offers a fair price? seriously?
posted by klanawa at 8:06 AM on November 26, 2008

Or if you just look at how sale prices on plots of land affect tax levels. The more a parcel of land is supposedly worth the higher the tax burden neighboring parcels are forced to take on. This higher tax burden forces the poor farmers to sell. Downward spiral mateys.
posted by Severian at 8:26 AM on November 26, 2008

Quantum of Solace was about controlling water. This is about controlling food. So it's pretty close, anyway.
posted by banished at 9:00 AM on November 26, 2008

Severian,

Do land taxes work that way/exist in countries where most of the land has been purchased?


Also, whats to stop these countries from taking back the land in the future?
posted by batou_ at 10:15 AM on November 26, 2008

Also, what's to stop these countries from taking back the land in the future?
Not much; and even better, they can sell it again.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 1:57 PM on November 26, 2008