Over the centuries aggressive nations have used their military might to subdue, colonise and plunder other nations for prized resources.
At one time such plunder would have consisted of “precious” minerals like gold, silver, copper and diamonds. Subsequently, with the advent of industrialisation, the exploiting nations turned their attention to the plundering of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Now, rather than precious metals and fossil fuels, it is arable land and access to water that is most prized by neo-colonialists. Our own populations continue to expand exponentially whilst simultaneously our arable farmland is disappearing, thanks to disastrous modern agricultural processes. Water is becoming increasingly precious because it is a finite resource with more and more of us demanding access to it.
The principal neo-colonialist nations of the 21st century are China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the USA and western European nations, in particular the UK. These countries have been buying up arable land at an astonishing rate in some of the poorest nations on Earth, in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
In recent years China (which has 20% of the world’s population but only 8% of its arable land) has acquired an area of land greater than the size of Wales within the Democratic Republic of Congo where it grows palm oil, cabbages and other produce. It has also bought up a vast tract of land in Mozambique which provides it with peanuts, cashews and sesame seeds.
The major “land grabbers” on the African continent – China, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, South Korea and the UK have between them acquired arable land in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Ghana . These African countries already have problems feeding their own populations, and between them already require billions of dollars and millions of tonnes of food in aid each year. Depleting these impoverished countries of arable land to “solve” the problems created by our failed agricultural model is morally indefensible.
Another country which has fallen prey to the neo-colonialists is Pakistan, where the oil-rich but agriculturally arid countries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have each acquired hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land to grow fruit and vegetables and farm livestock for their domestic populations.
In South America, the USA owns huge tracts of arable land in Brazil. In turn, as its own economy has grown, Brazil has bought up farmland in neighbouring Uruguay (as has Argentina and the USA). Much of this land is now used to grow soy beans for cattle feed.
Most of this land acquisition has been achieved “under the radar”, through the use of front investment companies, but it is clear that this stealthy acquisition of farmland in the third world represents a food security strategy of governments in the developed world.
The fact that this all this is happening is also, of course, clear evidence that western agricultural practices are unsustainable and beginning to fail.
Populations in these exploited poorer countries are going to become more hungry as a result of this large scale plundering of land. Rising global inequalities, combined with dwindling access to water, large-scale loss of arable land, the continued effects of climate change and a spiralling world population make for an incendiary mix.
Make no mistake: what we see here is the start of the trenches being dug and the battle lines being drawn. The wars of the future are going to be waged over access to the world’s increasingly scarce supplies of food and water.
On to the recipe, and in complete contrast to me ranting on about impending food shortages, this is the time of year when most vegetable growers realise they’ve ended up with far more courgettes than they know what to do with. This recipe represents one modest suggestion to help tackle this seasonal glut.
The amount of wasabi I suggest in the recipe is just enough to give an elegant lift to the flavours in this this rich, creamy soup. If you would prefer your soup with a bit more of a kick then add a touch more wasabi, but do err on the side of caution.
broccoli, courgette and wasabi soup
Ingredients
300 g broccoli/calabrese, broken into florets
300 g courgettes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp wasabi paste
1 tsp sea salt
1½ litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
to serve
a few fresh chive leaves, finely chopped
Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, salt, courgette and broccoli and cook for a further 4 minutes, stirring every so often.
2. Add the vegetable stock, stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce to a low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the broccoli and courgette are tender.
3. Remove from the heat, add the wasabi paste, stir and leave to cool for a few minutes.
4. Use a blender to process the soup until smooth and creamy. Return to a clean pan and warm the soup over a low heat until it just starts to bubble at the edges. Remove from the heat. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle over the chopped chives.
Categories: dairy free, gluten free, vegan
Tags: land ownership
I have grown some wasabi,never eaten it though!
How much of the fresh root should I use,should I just grate it in with the onion?
Food for thought that the richer countries are buying land in much poorer countries and that in the future we shall fight over food and water.
Hi Joyce. Thank you for commenting. How exciting that you have grown wasabi. Having grown it you definitely need to give it a try. I would err on the side of caution and suggest adding no more than half a teaspoonful of grated fresh wasabi, and would add it at the same time as the broccoli, courgette and stock.
Steve
Many thanks for your advice, will try half a teaspoon and let you know how it turned out. I do like the leaves finely sliced in salad but wasn’t too sure how to use the root, it has taken 3 years to grow to a harvestable size, so your soup seemed to me to be a fitting start to using my plant!
I really hope that you are not proved right over food security,but sadly I think you are right.
Joyce.
I think food sovereignty is one of the biggest issues of our time and yet it is something we don’t hear about on mainstream media nearly often enough. Climate change eventually became a widely-known concept, but food sovereignty still has a long way to go. Projects like the G8 group’s “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition” are not helping either, though it was good to see the EU actually criticising and questioning the New Alliance’s rationale recently.
The courgette soup sounds good – I shall add it to my ‘ideas for courgettes’ 🙂
Hi Peggy. I agree with you, but I predict that in a generation’s time food security will soon be right at the top of national and international agendas.
Steve
I think you could well be right, Steve. Things certainly aren’t going to get better any time soon without serious action.
What a unique combination, but it looks and sounds delicious! Good way to use up garden vegetables, too. I think I’ll try this one later in the week. Great post!
Thank you 🙂
I just finished your great soup. The wasabi gives it a subtle zip! Excellent!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. By coincidence we’ve just had this soup too, for lunch out in the garden! 🙂
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
Yummy yummy and healthy also!!!
Ali”Fox”
Reblogged this on Blog of a Mad Black Woman and commented:
The Circus Gardner’s Kitchen!