Food and Fuel

Not much to say this week so I might just have a rant about the general world fuel and food situations; situations which mean that Eritrea feels the pinch more than most countries (though nobody really complains and life goes on).

Taking rubbish out to the dust-cart on a Saturday morning in Asmara you see how little people throw out and almost none of it is food waste – 30% of food is thrown out in “developed” countries?

We find ourselves being much more frugal; not least because gas and paraffin to cook on are both in short supply, but we don’t throw any food away at all now.

People walk and cycle in this city out of necessity and the too-few buses are always very crowded. Just before I left the UK an ex-colleague bought a 4WD car which, at a push, will do 18mpg. I can breathe in Asmara, I sometimes feel choked in London - due to Asthma.

Development, modernisation and wealth mean much more consumption (it should be called over-consumption) and now not enough oil can be pumped for world needs. I also read that the commoditisation of food is partly causing global prices to rise and that turning over land to the production of bio-fuels is making the situation worse.

So what am I talking about? Well I know that the above is seriously unstructured and not even an argument … but I suppose I’m trying to say that living here I’m starting to see things differently (though I would have always called 18mpg irresponsible).

P