Why is Haiti the poorest country in the world?Why do the local people eat soil for a living?
Food culture varies from place to place, and the types of staple foods vary depending on the region and culture. In China, there is a big difference between the diet of the north and the south, with northerners preferring to eat pasta, while southerners are more inclined to eat rice.
Rice is the staple food in Japan, while Western countries such as the United States and Australia prefer pasta and potatoes. Although there is a wide variety of staple foods in various countries, most of them fall into the two main groups of cereals and tubers.
However, in Haiti, in the northern Caribbean, people choose to feed on the dirt. They dilute the soil, add seasonings, and dry it into unique mud biscuits. So, why do they choose to eat dirt, and how do they make a living by eating it?
The Republic of Haiti, also known as Haiti, is an island nation located in North America. The country takes its name from its mountainous landscape, covering an area of 27,750 square kilometres, of which 75% is mountainous, with only the coastal part being plains.
However, the region is often hit by hurricanes and torrential rains, resulting in a very weak agricultural base and an extremely lagging industrial development due to energy scarcity.
As a result, Haiti remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Despite having a population of 11 million, its GDP per capita in 2020 was only $800. According to statistics, 70 per cent of Haitian citizens do not have regular jobs, 60 per cent of the population is illiterate, and more than 75 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty.
As a result of poor living conditions, the average life expectancy of Haitians is less than 64 years, ranking 169th out of 189 member states worldwide.
On the streets of Haiti, you will find patches of dirt biscuits basking in the sun on the side of the road. The Haitian people live in extreme poverty, and food shortages have led to a large number of people going hungry all year round.
In order to fill their stomachs, they can only choose to eat dirt. Although it may seem inconceivable to hear such statements in modern society, in the years of famine, when people have eaten up food and livestock, and even uprooted tree bark and grass roots, the only way left to survive is to eat soil.
In 1942, after the great drought in Henan, there was a locust plague, and millions of people starved to death on the streets.
The name Guanyin soil is based on ancient Chinese myths and legends. In ancient Wangwu Mountain, many villagers had symptoms of vomiting, and doctors tried many methods without ** patients.
Guanyin Bodhisattva couldn't bear to see them suffer, so he went down directly to bring Guanyin soil to the villagers of Wangwu Mountain. The villagers mix Guanyin soil with flour, and after eating it, it is immediately healed.
Of course, this is just a legend, and Guanyin soil is not edible. While it does provide temporary relief from hunger, it is not easily digested, and over time, many refugees die of swelling.
Kaolin, the cure of the ancients The history of kaolin can be traced back to ancient times, when people regarded soil as a miracle medicine for diseases. Li Shizhen opened a special column for soil in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", recording 61 kinds of soil that can be oral and external.
Westerners, on the other hand, give more emotion and meaning to earth, believing that it is not only healing, but also religiously sacred. At that time, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, believed that soil could stop bleeding and detoxify, and this belief continued until the Renaissance.
Now, kaolin has become a hot topic of academic research, and its strong plasticity, non-breakability, and long-term retention of the original state make it an excellent raw material for making porcelain.
Jingdezhen is known as the porcelain capital of the world, and the contribution of kaolin is indispensable.
Haitians use soil as food to satisfy their hunger when food is scarce, and the most important factor is that it gives them a sense of satiety. Although kaolin is rich in mineral resources, it does not swell when exposed to water, so the Guanyin soil we are talking about is not the soil they really eat.
What Haitians eat is actually a mineral that expands in size when exposed to water, namely bentonite. Bentonite is a non-metallic mineral mainly composed of montmorillonite, which has good ion exchange.
When montmorillonite comes into contact with water, its volume expands several times, even 20 to 30 times, which is the nature of the soil that Haitians eat.
In Haiti, it's not uncommon to see residents making clay biscuits in the open air. They first take the material from montmorillonite and stir it with water in a large container until it forms a fine paste.
Next, they would spread a piece of plastic paper or cloth on the flat ground and put the mud on top of it one by one. In order to dry more conveniently, they would press a wooden strip on top of the mud paste and smooth it to increase the heating area.
During the process of blending montmorillonite, some Haitians also add spices and cooking oils to enhance the taste. Although montmorillonite is rich in minerals needed by the human body and is harmless to the human body, some of the heavy metals in high levels can seriously threaten people's health, and long-term consumption can even lead to toxic reactions.
Therefore, the consumption of montmorillonite needs to be cautious and is best done under the guidance of a professional.
When Haitians face food shortages, they have to feed their hunger on dirt. Although montmorillonite can produce a feeling of fullness, long-term consumption of large amounts of water will cause intestinal water to be absorbed and difficult to excrete, which is often seen on TV.
Haiti** has not taken proactive steps to solve the food problem, and they should be aware that although Haiti is an independent and sovereign country, it is dependent on aid from other countries for food, and when free food arrives at the port, local farmers are unable to reap the benefits, resulting in an embarrassing situation for agriculture.
At the same time, the U.S. food aid program required it to be produced on U.S. farms, making it impossible for Haitian farmers to sell their food, ultimately leading to bankruptcy and land abandonment.
Title: The Food Crisis in Haiti: The Relief Food Dilemma and the Weakness of the United Nations Content: In Haiti, the food that can be relieved is not sustainable and will run out one day.
When the free relief food is exhausted, Haitians still have no ability to grow food and can only suffer from hunger. Since 1993, the United Nations has led Haiti's poverty alleviation efforts, setting up five specialized studios and investing more than $8 billion, but the money has not made any real difference in Haiti.
The United States, Haiti's most recent developed country, has also taken a series of measures to help Haiti, including providing funding and eliminating tariffs on agricultural products, but Haiti's performance has disappointed American leaders, and these relief measures have not had any effect in Haiti.
In the international arena, Haiti is often criticized as an opportunistic country, and has even been called a "state" by Trump in the United States. Although the East King did not perform as well as he could have done on other issues, he undoubtedly told the truth when it came to blaming Haiti.
Haiti's food crisis and poverty require global attention and help, not just relief.
At the end of February, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti submitted its report on Haiti to the Security Council, which noted the wide gap between the rich and the poor, with the rich living in luxury and the poor living in extreme hardship.
In addition, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has intensified, and the physical safety of many people is at risk. After hearing the report, people were very worried about the future of the country.
On the issue of criticism of Haiti, the United Nations has reached a rare unanimity that Haiti is corrupt and incompetent, knows only infighting, and does not really think about the people.
Haiti bears a great deal of responsibility for the abject poverty situation. Haiti is often affected by hurricanes and is often dependent on other countries for assistance. In addition, the persistence of political turmoil, mismanagement, corruption, violent crime, and partisan strife in Haiti has made life even more difficult.
This has been going on for a long time, and Haiti's history has been infamously marked by it.
Protecting food, our shared responsibility Imagine that Haitians are eating soil, do you think it's incredible?Even though we live in a rich and powerful country, we still need to cherish every grain of food.
According to estimates by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total amount of food wasted in China is about 100 billion catties per year, enough to feed 3The annual needs of 500 million people. Recently, the state has stepped up its crackdown on online food waste, and the wind of saving is rising across the country.
Many university cafeterias have introduced humanized rationed meals for some girls with small meals, but many believe that China's food production is enough to meet domestic demand, so saving is completely unnecessary.
There are even theories that emphasize that wasting food and overconsumption can stimulate economic growth.
Although we live in an era of peace and prosperity, we should always remember that a porridge and a meal are not easy to come by, and every trace of material resources is difficult. Growing food is an arduous task, which requires not only the hard work of farmers, but also the input of water, electricity, transportation and other aspects.
Most of these resources are not renewable, so saving food is not only the embodiment of the excellent quality of our Chinese nation, but also the respect for the fruits of farmers' labor and the protection of the earth's resources.
In today's modern world, growing food is not only a matter of labor cost, but also involves a lot of resource consumption. Saving food is not only responsible for one's own life, but also a contribution to the sustainable development of the entire human society.
Our waste is not only an irresponsible act, but also a disrespect to those who live in difficulty. Let us cherish every grain of food, reduce waste, and contribute to the sustainable development of the earth.
While enjoying the food, let's also think about the people who live in Haiti, who lack food and clothing, and whose lives are not guaranteed, who need our help.
Saving is a kind of respect for them and a kind of care for human society.