[BCFSN] poverty is a political choice

[Abra Brynne]

Hello all,
I have attached an excellent editorial (one page, well worth the read!)
from the Lancet, a highly regarded medical journal from the UK. It starts
with a quote from the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human
Rights, Professor Philip Alston. Prof Alston states that "poverty is a
political choice. Austerity could so easily have spared the poor, *if the
political will had existed to do so*." (emphasis added)

The stats mentioned in the piece are, I am sure, mirrored in Canada. The
editorial continues with a quote from Public Health England's John Newton:
"As a society, we need to register an appropriate level of shame about
these results and adopt a corresponding level of urgency and diligence in
seeking to address them."

In keeping with so many other urgent issues facing us these days, it is up
to us to create the political will.

in good food - for all,
Abra

Abra Brynne
abra at foodshed.ca
PO Box 684, Nelson, BC V1L 5R4
ph: 250.352.5342
cell: 250.777.2480

"Whoever suggested that good thinking should be in a straight line?"
Brewster Kneen

"Social justice does  not come from passivity or non-caring. Justice must
be struggled for. That is what life is, or should be all about - striving
for justice. Not only or primarily as individuals, but as members of larger
communities." Ursula Franklin
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