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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 133
slums were revoked in 1975 by the government.
While 85 to 90 percent of the people of Bangladesh live in rural areas and many are
under-nourished, a mere one-third of the rationed food grains are alloted to rural families. In
theory, rural ration cards allow for the purchase of half the amount of subsidized food allotted to
an urban cardholder. In practice, rural can buy even less—in part because fulfillment of their
allotment depends on the food left over after the urban allotments. Moreover, rural ration dealers
sell much of the food they receive on the black market and pocket the cash; [hence,] a dealership
is a coveted political favor.”
435
When food, usually grain, is sold to those who can afford it most at subsidized prices, it
has a disastrous effect on the local farmers. The price of local grain is undercut by the subsidized
grain and local farmers are put out of business. They are forced to sell their land and they often
are unable to find work and find themselves added to the nations poor and hungry. “A study in
1969 concluded that for every pound of P.L. 480 cereals imported, there was a net decline of
almost one-half pound in Indian domestic production over the following two years, because of
the reduced return to the farmers.”
South Korea is a classic example of the devastating consequences that food aid can have
on a nations farmers. Yet, former US Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter,
contended that “South Korea is the greatest success story worldwide of the Food for Peace
Program (P.L. 480) in terms of contribution to the growth of that nation.” Yeutter claimed South
Korea to be a success because it achieved a desired affect. South Korea became dependent on US
grain imports and South Korea's rural population was greatly reduced. The displaced rural farm
workers became a low-paid labor force to be exploited by multinational corporations locating in
South Korea and producing goods for export.
In 1980 South Korea had the distinction of having purchased more agricultural
commodities from the US than any other undeveloped nation and they were the second largest
recipient of US food aid. The government of South Korea controlled the price that it paid its own
farmers for rice. The cheap US imports enabled them to pay local rice producers little more than
the cost of production. This continued from 1963 till 1976. Many farmers and their employees
were forced off their land. By the 1970s the number of farm workers had apparently been
sufficiently reduced and the farmers were able to pressure the government for higher prices but
not high enough to consistently produce a profit, “according to the Korean Catholic Farmers
Association. (Farmers who have dared to circulate a petition asking the government to pay a fair
price for their rice have been harassed, arrested and beaten, according to Association members”
interviewed by the Institute for Food Policy and Development (IFPD) in 1979.)”
436
In Columbia, food aid began in 1955. The result is that between 1955 and 1971 Columbia
had become totally dependent on wheat imports. Domestic wheat production plummeted by 69
percent; at the same time imports increased by 800 percent. By 1971, wheat imports accounted
for an astounding 90 percent of domestic consumption.
437
A nation that is dependent on food
imports can be influenced or controlled by the supplier of those imports.
In many cases, after countries had become dependent on US imports, they have been
moved off the P.L. 480 program and have been required to purchase their grain at market price in
US dollars. In 1974 after “South Korea had become dependent on American feed-grain imports,
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