We have trade deficits caused by free trade agreements and the free trade wackos say we need more to fix the problem.  The same goes for the hunger problems now - they claim we need more of the thing that caused the problem.   This letter to the editor makes the point

To the Editor:

The column says the flow of agricultural products from poor countries to rich ones is “producing more wealth” for those poor countries. But we have a global food system that extracts the wealth out of the world’s poor rural communities to fill the stomachs — and now the gas tanks — of the wealthy.

This system has stripped poor countries of the ability to feed themselves, and of the mechanisms to protect their populations against the fluctuations of global commodity markets. This crisis may just now be hitting headlines, but it is years in the making, and “free” trade policies are at its core.

Christina M. Schiavoni

Manhattan, April 28