Food Crisis Grows in Haiti

Posted on Jan 25, 2010

AP / Ryan Remiorz, The Canadian Press

People crowd a food distribution truck in Port-au-Prince on Monday.

It’s been nearly two weeks since the cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti, and the life-or-death issue of food distribution looms larger than ever, despite the concerted efforts of various aid organizations—and the efforts of Haitians themselves—to combat starvation.  —KA

The New York Times:

And despite frantic efforts by aid groups, distribution has been limited. As of Saturday, the World Food Program had reached 207,392 people in Port-au-Prince and 113,313 in other areas.

Compounding the problem, Haiti’s commercial food supply has been strangled by the earthquake’s damage. Fruits and vegetables from the countryside are still available, but in smaller quantities, at inflated prices. And food imports — typically 48 percent of the nation’s total food consumption, according to the United Nations — have slowed to a trickle.

“The whole food supply chain has been trashed by the earthquake,” said David Orr, a spokesman for the World Food Program. “The port, the roads, the trucks, the whole commercial life of the country has been disrupted.”

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