TAKE 30 SECONDS & SIGN THE PETITION!!!!

Dear friends,

Rocketing prices threaten to starve millions and make us all less secure -- sign the emergency petition for action to stop the world food crisis


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Watch the Video
Have you noticed food costing more when you shop? Here's why -- we're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Already one in seven of us around the world go hungry -- but rocketing prices are squeezing billions more, triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa[1]. In Sierra Leone alone the price of a bag of rice has doubled and is unaffordable for 90% of citizens[2] . Before it's too late, the world needs to mobilise emergency funding against starvation, remove perverse biofuels incentives and address speculation, as well as tackling the deeper causes at forthcoming summits.

African human rights campaigner Zainab Bangura, Sierra Leone's new foreign minister, has toured the world appealing to rich countries -- now she's reaching out to Avaaz members for help. Ban Ki-Moon holds a high-level UN meeting on the crisis later this week, so we're launching an urgent campaign to make sure leaders listen and act. Click below to see Zainab's video message and add your name to the petition -- together we can build a massive global outcry to the UN, G8 and EU in the coming days and weeks:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/2.php

The worst could be yet to come. The global food crisis touches and connects us all, driving up inflation, damaging economies and squeezing poor and middle-income citizens the world over. The prices of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice have almost doubled, accelerating out of control in recent weeks.[3]

There's an urgent need for crisis management -- the World Food Programme is appealing for $753 million by May to keep 100 million from starving[4] . The many causes include rampant commodity speculation and flawed biofuels policies, but smart proposals for fixing these are circulating.[5]

As we take this campaign to G8 and EU meetings in May, June and July, we'll be asking world leaders to tackle the underlying problems of the world food system too. Massive investment in agricultural productivity and diversified food security for developing countries is needed; harmful trade policies also contribute. And we as individuals should take responsibility too -- to improve our diets, reduce waste and eat less meat (the most inefficient of foods).[6]

Hunger on this scale is unacceptable in the twenty-first century, and the food crisis threatens us all. Moments of global vulnerability can make us feel impotent and besieged -- it's vital instead for citizens all round the world to join together and demand bold action before it's too late. Sign the petition at the link below, then forward this email and ask friends and family to do the same --

http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/2.php

With hope,

Paul, Galit, Ricken, Graziela, Iain, Mark, Pascal and the whole Avaaz team

Sources:

1. BBC: "How to stop the global food crisis": http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7365798.stm

"The New Economics of Hunger", Washington Post, 27 April 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602041_pf.html

2. Zainab Bangura, Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, video message to Avaaz members http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/2.php

3. Chinese news citing World Bank figures: http://www.cctv.com/english/20080426/102406.shtml

4. Reuters: "Rising food prices to top UN agenda" http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSL1890947220080424

5. See BBC article above, and "Rising Food Prices" by Alex Evans (Chatham House report) http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/11422_bp0408food.pdf

6. UN scientific report on fixing the world food system: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7347239.stm

The Guardian: "Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger", George Monbiot http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/food.biofuels



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ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

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