A Poem For World Food Day

SalimahValiani

a poem for World Food Day

All in a spoon

A small teaspoon,
A teaspoon twice its size:
What can one do
which the other cannot?

A small teaspoon can train the mind to
eat less eat slower
A small teaspoon can stretch
l e s s f o o d f u r t h e r
A small teaspoon leads to a soup spoon,
fork, and other utensils
which narrow the gaps
between adults, older people and children.

Imagine the majority of an entire country
using the small teaspoon
Imagine the majority of another country
using the larger teaspoon
Who provides the spoons on the market?
What is the difference in relative price
(almost none)

The difference is between two economies:
One structured on supplying a minority with plenty
at prices better than affordable
(because everyone else’s wages are so low)
One structured on milking a majority which
is paid just enough to over-consume half-real products
The difference is between
Apartheid capitalism
and
American capitalism

Both of which are still with us today.

*from Letter Out : Letter In (Salimah Valiani, 2009, Inanna)
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