Food Summit Opens With Censure of Greed, Speculation
By Karl Maier and Jeffrey Donovan

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) — A United Nations summit on food security opened with leaders slamming rich nations for worsening world hunger by allowing speculation in agricultural markets and using subsidies that hurt production in developing nations.

Pope Benedict XVI cited “greed which causes speculation to rear its head even in the marketing of cereals, as if food were to be treated just like any other commodity.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who called hunger “the most terrible weapon of mass destruction,” urged rich nations to meet their commitments to boost investment in agricultural in poor nations and to end “shameful” farming subsidies.

“They sabotage emerging agriculture in the poorer countries, wiping out their hope to create a bridge to development,” Lula said.

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