Dirt Poor

Photographer Ruth Fremson from The New York Times took the above photo of a woman in Fort Dimanche, Haiti laying out biscuits to dry. The biscuits are made of butter, salt, water and dirt and are used as a dietary supplement for pregnant women and children. Basically, they eat mud cookies up to three times a day.

Lately there has been a lot of talk about food riots in Haiti and I did some research as to why this is happening. Haiti is a country that mainly imports all its food. They import close to 400,000 tons annually. So when the price of staple foods goes on the rise, many are beginning to starve. Why can't they grow their own food you may wonder? Well, much of Haiti's soil is barren from deforestation. So less than a quarter of Haiti's food is homegrown. As some soil scientists say in a National Geographic article, "As a nation's soil goes, so goes the nation."