June 6, 2008

The UN: Food Worsens, Hypocrisy Steady

By: James Poulos

Lots of laughs from Freddy Gray: the menu from World Food Summits past and present. I can´t vouch for the quality, character, or track record of the Food Summit, but we should be careful not to condemn people who work hard for the dispossessed and want to enjoy a nice dinner afterward. Problem is, the UN may never get out from under its embarrassing tendency to put whatever work it does in a deep shade of waste and corruption. Choosing to work at the UN is, in a way, casting one´s lot with inefficiency and bureaucratic inertia; it´s that which makes the fancy feast so galling, less than the relative inequalities themselves. If the food situation at the UN was as hamstrung and questionable as the whole operation, it´d be dumpster diving for all.