This morning on my way to work I listened to NPR’s segment on food riots in Haiti. All this week they have been doing a series of stories on spiraling food costs, and how this is affecting developing nations.
Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis was ousted because of the food shortages, resulting in a governmental vacuum and increasing chaos. The story also pointed out that most Haitians make less than $2 a day, and with the increasing prices, a small bowl of rice costs about half of that amount. Schools that provide lunch have shown a marked increase in attendance simply because that’s the only decent meal that some of the children will receive.
As I listened to this I was wracked with pangs of guilt. Just a few days ago I was writing about about how disappointed I was that someone didn’t deliver my gourmet meal soon enough for my liking at Larkins on the River. Never mind that the meal cost more than most Haitians would make in two months, or that it would be more than many Haitians would get in as many days. It struck me how silly my complaint was when compared to the overall world situation.