this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining to create a "doom loop" for the world's poorest people, as staple food prices soar.

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[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 135 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Started the food wars have

[–] morrowind@lemmy.ml 97 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Can we please not have silly jokes on a serious topic like global hunger?

This is one thing I don't want from reddit

[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 114 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If I don’t laugh about the world I’ll just start crying. It’s sadly the defense mechanism I’ve developed. I use humor to avoid uncomfortable moments in all aspects of my life.

[–] TheSaneWriter@lemmy.thesanewriter.com 61 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I agree, humor is a valid coping mechanism. It's not like a serious conversation on Lemmy is going to solve world hunger, your joke was fine in my opinion.

[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 28 points 1 year ago

I’ve had a lot of trauma in my life and have become a very pessimistic and dark person. Everyone has their cross to bear and I wear mine with a fake smile.

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[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not sadly the defence mechanism you developed, but luckily.

Because face it some defence mechanism is needed, and the vast majority of them are absolutely harmful. Fuck the ruffled feathers those are the exact kind of people who say "I'd rather ignore it", "I'd rather deny it's happening", "I'd rather say that it's bad everywhere", "I'd rather say it's because of the Jews", "I'd rather sit here and unproductively wallow in pity", or whatever. You are a human, and as such you have the birth right to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago
[–] SeedyOne@lemmy.ca 61 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It may sound silly but it's put succinctly and there's an element of grim truth to it.

Additionally, do we have to compare everything to Reddit? It's the Internet, people are going to cope how they cope.

[–] Anissem@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I just want to filter out the words Reddit, Elon and Trump. I’m just so tired.

[–] SeedyOne@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 year ago

Curating your experience certainly helps. Thankfully Lemmy clients are starting to have keyword blocks I hear. It's the thing I miss the most about Boost.

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[–] laylawashere44@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah but it's in bad taste.

[–] bear@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 year ago

Bad taste is when people draw attention away from the actual issues and towards making sure the language is sufficiently inoffensive and mild enough for their delicate sensibilities. This is one of the worst traits that the Fediverse has developed.

[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Can we please not banning silly jokes on a serious topic? That is one thing I don't want from real life

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[–] oce@jlai.lu 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm sorry if this disturbs you but free humour is one of the extremely important aspects of the internet that Lemmy needs to support. When you know who you are talking to you can avoid subjects that may hurt the other person but on the public internet this is not possible. The alternative to never dare making any joke because of the risk to hurt someone is dystopian.
Top comment isn't even a joke, it's a movie reference that supports the idea that this is a serious topic.

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[–] Master@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago
[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

Humor can be a defense mechanism when things are bleak.

[–] Firipu@startrek.website 10 points 1 year ago

You must be fun at parties....

[–] NuPNuA@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Some of us can only deal with existential horror by laughing and the absurdity of it all.

[–] flyingsquirrel@lemmy.ca 69 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Mainwhile, Russia is actively engaged in the destruction of Ukraine wheat export terminals, and India remains silent.

[–] Zeroxxx@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

India, Indonesia and the rest of non alignment countries do not need to enter this war set up by the West.

[–] astral_avocado@programming.dev 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree with you that India doesn't need to take sides, but I'm pretty sure Russian/West cooperation had been increasingly positive since the cold war ended, right until Putin decided he wanted to be an imperialist again. The West didn't make him invade a sovereign, non-threatening country.

[–] Zeroxxx@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Russia imperalist is akin to someone bombing Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan?

LOL

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[–] NuPNuA@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

Enter the war, no. Make a simple moral comment on who the agresssors are and that they should stop, years.

[–] yoz@aussie.zone 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From what I read India and Russia are really old friends, that's why India isn't saying anything and they do lot of business.

[–] nestEggParrot@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago

More than old friends. India is heavily reliant on russian arms. Replacing them would be a slow, expensive process. Considering it is surrounded on two sides by aggressors with regular conflicts, jeopardizing relations with Russia is not an option.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The cost of rice — a staple food for nearly half the world's population — and other essentials, like wheat, corn and vegetable oils, are rising as geopolitical forces, extreme weather and a dawning El Niño disrupt global trade.

In its most recent rice outlook, the USDA said India was expected to ship a record 23.0 million tonnes in 2024, exceeding the combined shipments of the next two largest exporters — Thailand and Vietnam.

The Indian government runs the world's largest food distribution program, catering to about 800 million people, according to McDonald Pelz business manager Sumit Gupta.

The Indian government has a policy of maintaining reserves of key commodities, and as it assessed the risk of El Niño, and the rapid pace of rice exports this year, it brought the trade to a close on July 20.

"This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to [the] geo-political scenario, El Niño sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice-producing countries," the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in its statement declaring the ban.

At a conference in St Petersburg recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged 25,000-50,000 tons of free grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea in the coming months.


I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] Piers 6 points 1 year ago
[–] ahriboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why can't South Asian diaspora just buy Thai jasmine rice instead?

[–] Parsnip8904 18 points 1 year ago

Because they're really different. People who don't eat rice as a staple aren't aware how much varieties there are and how different they taste. There are three specific varieties used just in my own house for lunch, breakfast dishes and dinner respectively.

Japanese or Thai rice are totally different in taste, consistency and texture.

It would be like trying to bake using whole wheat flour instead of refined flour.

[–] yoz@aussie.zone 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think its the quality and people only want to consume high quality rice.. I tried Thai jasmine and Indian basmati. Can confirm Indian Basmati is really good when compared to jasmine rice.

Asian guy here. I use jasmine for Asian dishes, Basmati for Indian and middle eastern dishes, and generic American long grain for Mexican and Cajun dishes. Pairing the right variety of rice with the right cuisine is a simple choice that can really improve the dish.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's just whatever you're used to. Thai jasmine rice is amazing, and I wouldn't eat Thai food with anything else. If you're used to eating Indian food with basmati, jasmine won't be a good substitute.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm used to Minute rice since that's what my parents used growing up. Not sure what kind of rice that is, but the first time I made something that called for Basmati rice, I didn't like the rice. It was sweet when I expected earthy. The rest of the recipe was good, and I just use jasmine rice with it instead every time thereafter, since that's what I buy now over the boxed crap.

[–] ijeff@lemdro.id 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Must be preference because I greatly prefer Thai Jasmine rice over Indian Basmati. But they're different.

[–] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

I prefer jasmine rice for Thai food and Basmati rice for Indian food. Anything else would be strange.

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[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I've always wanted all countries to ban staple food and water exports. If you can't grow your own food and have your own water, you don't need to have people living there.

[–] Doxatek@mander.xyz 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A bit valid. Just rough for the people already living there that may not have chosen it

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

Could do a phased approach over a decade or so, rather then all at once. But the other thing is that places (like saudi arabia) that shouldn't have near the population they do, are able to pay much more for food then somalia and so food growers in somalia would rather produce food to sell rather then feed their own people. So you basically shift the starvation to the food producers rather than the food buyers.

[–] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Why would a country cripple their economic growth like that?

How dare you advocate for national stability through hard times

[–] NuPNuA@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

So what happens to all the refugees that do already live there who then need to be relocated, will your nation take them all?

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