No cookies for me,thanks.

Today it was reported in the world news that some Haitians are reduced to eating "cookies" that consist of shortening,salt and DIRT that they "bake" on hot rooftops,simply because they have little or nothing else to eat.Thanks to the increase in costs of fuel oils,Carribean nations,which depend on imports for most food products,are seeing food prices rise as much as 40%.Add in the increased cost of fertilizers & irrigation,not to mention corn and wheat.Then figure in the massive floods and crop damage resulting from the 2007 hurricanes and you have the current food crisis in Haiti.Rice and beans,typical staples of low income Haitians,cost 50% more than they did this time last year.Two cups of rice go for 60 cents,which is astronomical when you consider the average Haitian resident lives on less than $2 a day!
The dried yellow mud has always been highly regarded for its antacid properties and because it is a source of much needed calcium but it is not exactly healthy either.While some experts say "geophagy"(eating dirt) by pregnant women gives the fetus immunity to some diseases,other sources say there is a risk of ingesting parasites or toxins,and that a diet of only dirt will cause malnutrition if sustained for a long time.Some enterprising peasant women have gone into the dirt business and sell the cookies to others to support themselves.$5 worth of materials can make 100 dirt cookies.
One woman interviewed outside Port Au Prince says that in her home,which consists of her,her month old infant,5 siblings and unemployed parents,they have had to eat these 3 times a day because there is nothing else,and that it gives her stomach pains and that her son gets colicky when he nurses.
This type of thing probably goes on all over the world and I know Haitians do not hold the patent on suffering,but this story is heartbreaking.There is wealth in Haiti,unfortunately it is all controlled by a tiny elite and politically connected group of people-who by the way,should be ashamed of themselves for allowing their fellow countrymen to suffer and literally eat dirt.No wonder so many of our immigrants on the Shore and elsewhere in the US hail from Haiti.It's a fact that even the poorest people in the US can get enough,sometimes too much,to eat,judging by the obesity rates among low-income demographics(I'm fat too,not pointing fingers at anyone!)Nobody should have to make a meal 3 times a day,for days on end,of just dirt!No wonder they are always revolting and rioting in the streets for justice in that country-their government turns a blind eye to the suffering of its people.