Reflections

"Any definition of famine that sees it as a failure of some sort is missing the point. Whether famine is seen as a failure of the food supply, a breakdown in the food distribution system, or a multi-faceted livelihood crisis, the outcome is the same. These definitions or concepts blind us to the fact that famines, and the deaths, migrations or impoverishment that they produce, are enormously beneficial to the perpetrators: they are a success not a failure, a normal output of the current economic and political system, not an aberration." -Jenny Edkins

This quote made an impact on me because it shows that we will need to change our system since we cannot expect the system that creates the problem cannot solve the problem, so we will need to let go and find a new path. This leads perfectly into the next quote, which describes ways to get there, and that people are already working towards that change and making impacts.

"But something else has been happening over these thirty years, too. The people we met on our journey are living this story. They are pushing forward the edge of hope with what they prove is possible. They are creating are space in which each of us can find hope.

We must warn you, though. This kind of hope isn't clean or tidy. Honest hope has an edge. It's messy. It requires that we let go of all pat answers, all preconceived formulas, all confidence that our sailing will be smooth. It's not a resting point. Honest hope is movement." -Frances Moor Lappe and Anna Lappe