G8 discuss the world food crisis over an 18 course meal

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All I have to say is:
1. You've got to be fucking kidding me
2. I only know of 3 course meals... wtf are the other 15?!

Original link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...banquet-discuss-solve-global-food-crisis.html


Just two days ago, Gordon Brown was urging us all to stop wasting food and combat rising prices and a global shortage of provisions.

But yesterday the Prime Minister and other world leaders sat down to an 18-course gastronomic extravaganza at a G8 summit in Japan, which is focusing on the food crisis.

The dinner, and a six-course lunch, at the summit of leading industrialised nations on the island of Hokkaido, included delicacies such as caviar, milkfed lamb, sea urchin and tuna, with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the U.S.

But the extravagance of the menus drew disapproval from critics who thought it hypocritical to produce such a lavish meal when world food supplies are under threat.

On Sunday, Mr Brown called for prudence and thrift in our kitchens, after a Government report concluded that 4.1million tonnes of food was being wasted by householders.

He suggested we could save up to ?8 a week by making our shopping go further. It was vital to reduce 'unnecessary demand' for food, he said.

Last night's dinner menu was created by Katsuhiro Nakamura, the first Japanese chef to win a Michelin star. It was themed: Hokkaido, blessings of the earth and the sea.

But Dominic Nutt, of the charity Save the Children, did not approve.

'It is deeply hypocritical that they should be lavishing course after course on world leaders when there is a food crisis and millions cannot afford a decent meal,' he said.

'If the G8 wants to betray the hopes of a generation of children, it is going the right way about it. The food crisis is an emergency and the G8 must treat it as that.'

In 2005, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, world leaders promised to increase global aid by ?25billion a year by 2010 and raise aid to Africa, the world's poorest continent, by ?12.5billion. But the bloc of rich nations is only 14 per cent of the way towards hitting its target.

Britain is meeting its commitments in full, but other countries are understood to be dragging their feet - and there are fears the figures on global aid could be watered down.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi, who face pressure to cut spending at home, are understood to be leading the charge to weaken the Gleneagles proposal.

Tory international development spokesman Andrew Mitchell said: 'The G8 have made a bad start to their summit, with excessive cost and lavish consumption.

'Surely it is not unreasonable for each leader to give a guarantee that they will stand by their solemn pledges of three years ago at Gleneagles to help the world's poor.

'All of us are watching, waiting and listening.'

A World Bank study released last week estimated that up to 105million more people, including 30million in Africa, could drop below the poverty line because of rising food prices.

Yesterday the European Union agreed to channel ?800million in unused European farm subsidies to African farmers, as part of its response to the global food crisis.

'The EU really can give a boost to agriculture in developing countries,' Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, told the meeting.

The money will be used to buy seed and fertiliser and fund agriculture projects in Africa.

The meal was served at the Windsor Hotel, on the shores of Lake Toya, where the presidential suite costs ?7,000 a night.

Japan has spent a record sum of money and deployed about 20,000 police to seal off the remote lakeside town of Toyako for the three-day talks.


Slim pickings from the Russian leader

Britain's relations with Russia remained chilly last night as Mr Brown held the first talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.

He is understood to have pressed for the extradition of former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoy, wanted for the London poisoning of dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

But Mr Medvedev refused to budge on that issue - or on the closure of British Council offices in Russia and arrest of its employees.

A Kremlin official said the talks had 'not avoided any sharp corners'. Mr Medvedev had concentrated on 'the prospects of restoring relations to the level they were on several years ago', he said.

Mr Brown 'brought up the issues that particularly concerned the British side, such as the British Council and activities of certain major oil companies and a number of certain-well-known cases', he added. 'Dmitry Medvedev gave necessary explanations and pointed to the importance of a long-term approach in UK-Russian co-operation.'

There were signs Russia may support tougher action against Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. It has been reluctant to support sanctions, but British sources at the G8 summit said opposition was easing.

The G8 is expected to support a proposal of a UN envoy to broker an exit for Mugabe
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Typical
 
Can't blame them......I bet the food was good.
 
Whoop de do. What are they supposed to do instead? Box it up and ship it to Africa? :rolleyes:
 
Wasn't that the point of the meeting? :p
 
The number of courses doesn't matter...... its the over all quantity of food that does.

You know some all these posh restaurants come out with food the size of a golf ball? I prefer that idea, small amounts of different flavours rather than one huge steak that is the same taste as it was when you started, but colder.

Gordon Brown was talking about not wasting food. So long as from this number of courses there was little waste then he's politically correct and let's face it, have you seen the size of him...... nothing would EVER go to waste.
 
Scooby5 said:
The number of courses doesn't matter...... its the over all quantity of food that does.

You know some all these posh restaurants come out with food the size of a golf ball? I prefer that idea, small amounts of different flavours rather than one huge steak that is the same taste as it was when you started, but colder.
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You know, I've been saying this all day and people have been lambasting me for not understanding the issue at hand. But you're spot on.
 
I love the irony in this. I don't want them to discuss this over a loaf of old bread and plain water, but it would make more sense...


18 course meal, well that's a toughie.
Most Ive had was 7 and they usually consist of some tiny potato on a large plate, with all sorts of stuff drizzled on it, and all the tastes mingle together so you can't really taste what it is your eating.

18 courses probably have 7 starters, 7 "main" courses, and 4 desserts
 
I'm just scanning through my local newspaper....... it says 8 courses.

I suspect the Daily Buggle up there might be including the drinks or something stupid. The source for the story in the SG is the AFP
 
The real issue is, how do you make sure Africans don't all starve to death without any African country developing?

If alot of Africans starve to death, the Western/Northern peoples might start caring about them and then the diplomats' beloved status quo is as good as gone.
 
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of expecting politicians to pretend that they actually care about people in far-off countries.
 
"Dominic Nutt" is not a real name. Somebody do a background check on him, he might just be the Boston Strangler.

Were the 18 courses prepared in a sustainable manner from renewable resources from locally-grown organic products, obtained via fair-trade guidelines benefiting local farmers, slaughtered in an ethical and humane manner, delivered via low-emissions hybrid fuel-efficient vehicles, and infused with happiness and cuddly sunshine and pink rainbows? Because in that case, it's ok. :roll:
 
so what else is new...

in the Live Earth concerts they flew and carted all those artists around, with the amount of fossil fuels they burnt I could run my car for free till at least the next century...
 
BlaRo said:
Were the 18 courses prepared in a sustainable manner from renewable resources from locally-grown organic products, obtained via fair-trade guidelines benefiting local farmers, slaughtered in an ethical and humane manner, delivered via low-emissions hybrid fuel-efficient vehicles, and infused with happiness and cuddly sunshine and pink rainbows? Because in that case, it's ok. :roll:
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The way the Japanese are i might be tempted to actually say YES to each and every point........ including the "infused with happiness and cuddly sunshine and pink rainbows" since their cows are fed on beer and given massages.
 
:boohoo: This world is a world of 'have and have nots'. While the 'haves' sometimes try and help their less fortunate counterparts, don't expect them to do it while eating rice and beans. Heaven forbid :eek: they offend anyone by rightly partaking of a grand meal afforded to them by their more fortunate positions. C'mon folks, is everyone supposed to feel guilty every time they enjoy something many don't have? :rolleyes:
 
This may sound stupid, but I don't understand why the newspapers are as if they blame the politicians, when infact it's the host organisers (Japan)?
 
Nereid said:
This may sound stupid, but I don't understand why the newspapers are as if they blame the politicians, when infact it's the host organisers (Japan)?
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There is no blame if there was no waste.
 
Scooby5 said:
The way the Japanese are i might be tempted to actually say YES to each and every point........ including the "infused with happiness and cuddly sunshine and pink rainbows" since their cows are fed on beer and given massages.
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Hopefully the Japanese won't make a big of a deal out of it as Westerners do...like, say, Bono. :rolleyes:
 
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