CAN Invitation to Politicians to 'Lotto Lunch' in Dublin

Comhlámh Action Network would like to invite you to our Lotto Lunch on Thursday April 14th in Buswells Hotel between 1.00pm - 2.00pm

Where will you sit at the Global Dining Table?

Would you believe that an estimated 840 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition? Yet enough food is produced in the world to feed the entire population. More food does not guarantee that it reaches the plates of the hungry.

The Lotto Lunch is part of Comhlámh's activities during the Global Week of Action on Trade Justice to highlight the predicament the world's poor find themselves in.

R.S.V.P. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please Fax To Comhlámh Fax No. 021 4275241

I would like to attend Comhlámh Lotto Lunch Yes: _____ No: _____

Lunch will be served at 1.20 pm. Introductions and Press will be at 1.10pm.

I would like more information on trade justice & food security Yes: _____ No: _____

Name __________________________ Tel: _____________________________

Email: ___________________________

Comhlámh is the Irish Association of Returned Development Workers, educating and campaigning on global justice issues.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that 840 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition and many millions more are threatened by it. Approximately 6 million children die each year - mostly from hunger related causes.

The facts about hunger seem paradoxical. Enough food is produced to feed the world's population and 80% of the world's hungry and malnourished live in rural areas, where food is produced. So, more food does not guarantee that it reaches the plates of the hungry.

Lack of access to food is hardly ever the result of scarcity.

The reasons are man made and include unjust trade rules, which directly contribute to poverty in developing countries.

The liberalisation of trade has a significant impact on small farmers in the global South. In many cases, it exposes parts of the population to high price fluctuations. Many small farmers in developing countries cannot compete any longer with subsidised imports from industrial countries.

The consequences can be devastating. Cheap food imports destroy local production of important staple foods and increase poverty and unemployment in the countryside.

Trade liberalisation and the subsequent orientation of local agriculture away from food crops for domestic consumption towards export-crops has increased the concentration of agricultural land in the hands of wealthy landowners and multinational companies.

The victims are the least powerful in society: the poor, women, children or oppressed ethnic groups.

As you work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and eradicate poverty we are urging you to Make Trade Work -
Not Just for Ireland But for Everyone

The Comhlámh Action Network has been campaigning for over 10 years on issues of food security and agricultural trade to ensure that the interests of developing world producers are reflected in Europe's policies on agriculture and trade.

For more information please contact Comhlámh Cork
55 Grand Parade, Cork Tel: 021 427 5881 Fax: 021 4275241