UK media rap G-8 heads for feasting while discussing food crisis

Tuesday 08th July, 02:12 PM JST

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weedkila at 05:09 PM JST - 8th July

The Telegraph says that Brown had 24 different dishes on his first day but that... "African leaders including the heads of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal who had taken part in talks during the day were not invited to the function."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/2262534/G8-summit-Gordon-Brown-has-eight-course-dinner-before-food-crisis-talks.html

I guess that's a good metaphor for how they will deal with Africa. Not even cake...
kinniku at 05:19 PM JST - 8th July

Hmmm...so what have the leaders been eating at these G8 Summits up to now? I'm curious what the UK reporters have been eating in Japan as well. My guess is that they were not eating grass or mud biscuits. If Japan had just served beans and rice, I am sure some people would be complaining of the 'horrid Japanese food'. So, I don't have a problem with the caviar or sea urchin etc. However, 18 courses does sound a bit much.
northlondon at 05:45 PM JST - 8th July

Reality check everyone. These are politicians and heads of state (plus George Bush) we are talking about here. Not exactly renowned for their honesty or sense of fairness now.
wilbur at 06:05 PM JST - 8th July

did anyone really expect them to eat dirt sandwiches ?
weedkila at 06:16 PM JST - 8th July

did anyone really expect them to eat dirt sandwiches ?

no, but you miss the point.

Dominic Nutt, of Save the Children, said: "It is deeply hypocritical that they should be lavishing course after course on world leaders when there is a food crisis and millions cannot afford a decent meal to eat. If the G8 wants to betray the hopes of a generation of children, it is going the right way about it. The food crisis is an emergency and the G8 must treat it as that.
Ah_so at 07:16 PM JST - 8th July

Poor Gordon Brown. First he sounds like an old granny scolding his people about buying too much food.

Then the ball is on the other foot - the media are the granny scolding him for not eating everything on his plate while there are children starving in Africa/India.
kinniku at 07:19 PM JST - 8th July

weedkila,

Respectfully, I am not sure there is a point to miss. There are also millions of homeless all over the world. Does that mean the G8 should be held on the street? The problem is not what the leaders eat, it is what they decide and do at the summit that is important. These people in the media are trying to create news while completely ignoring that leaders generally eat and live better than the people they are supposed to be leading. The UK media are acting like we should be surprised and like this has never happened before.
WMD at 08:02 PM JST - 8th July

Look, we all know the G8 meetings are a total waste of money. Give'em egg and chips if they really feel the need to hold these annual gasbag parties. Anyway, it's time to scrap G8 meetings and have video conferences instead, so meals won't be an issue.
weedkila at 09:02 PM JST - 8th July

Kinniku: Let them eat nice food and stay in a nice hotel. My point was that their decisions often lead to the very problems they are supposed to solve or avoid. They talk of improving this or that but you'll find the opposite usually happens.

An example is biofuels. There was a report in the Guardian the other day that said that biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% and that these rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line. So now we have the people who made this horrible decision thumbing their collective noses at the victims by dining on some of the best food money can buy. WMD's excellent suggestion of egg 'n chips and video conferencing would do the job just as well and save us money.

Do you remember what the G8 promised last year? One story titled "A G8 removed from the real world" gave a reminder when it said... "We noted," the G8 said, "that the world economy is in good condition and growth is more evenly distributed across regions." This was June 8 2007, two months to the day before the entire global financial system came to a shuddering halt. If you like your humour black, it's rather funny isn't it? But wait, because it gets better. The communique expressed confidence that there would be "a smooth adjustment of global imbalances which should take place in the context of sustained and robust economic growth". Glad to see, then, that there was no risk that the US sub-prime mortgage crisis would prompt what the International Monetary Fund has called the biggest shock to the global financial system since the Great Depression.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/07/globaleconomy.economics

Anyway, I think you're right to a point. The media should be focussed on who it is that really pulls the strings instead of distracting and misleading us. The G8 is really only an interface between more powerful groups and the public. It's the main reason there is so much poverty and misery around the world. "Confessions of an economic hit man" (youtube) will give you an idea how many countries are kept locked in poverty.
JoeBigs at 10:05 PM JST - 8th July

Pass the butter is what I say, who cares what did they want them to do? Go hungry on some rice and eggs like the little people??? Come come now, they are world leaders who care about their people.

Or was that they are world leader and who cares about their people??? Hmm I forget how that goes.........

Hmmm butter........
usaletterhead at 06:25 AM JST - 9th July

The Independent ran a story with the headline ‘‘Over caviar and sea urchin, G8 leaders mull food crisis,’’ while another in the Times said ‘‘G8 leaders feast on 8 courses after discussing world food shortages.’’

YUCK IN THAT CASE I'D RATHER REMAIN HUNGRY!
Triple888 at 06:26 AM JST - 9th July

Was whale meat served?
tclh at 06:29 AM JST - 9th July

Caviar,sea-urchin,milk-fed lamb..?Is that all?They will have much more fun (I think that whatUK media intended to have)with menu which Hu jin Tao may offer other leaders during Olympic.Nobody expects these leaders just eat natto&rice and drink water...then work.
Taka313 at 12:25 PM JST - 9th July

Kinniku, I agree with your argument. Sure, it's hypocritical and 18 courses is over the top. But, if being well-fed and happy is what it takes for the G-8 participants to come up with a decent plan to deal with world hunger, then give them some ice cream for dessert too.

Taka
thedeath at 01:08 PM JST - 9th July

"happy is what it takes for the G-8 participants to come up with a decent plan to deal with world hunger"

as so the clean air in Hokkaido that take for the G-8 participants to come up with a decent plan to deal with co2 emission like what we read in the other headline today. yeah! 2050