Sandy's lesson for the world

On October 29,, Sandy, the so called perfect storm, struck the east coast of the United States, spanning from North Carolina in the south all the way to Connecticut in the North, affecting some 15 states. Two days after the storm, according to the NBC nightly news report, many people were still without power and out of food, particularly in the poor regions of the city. The economic loss caused by the storm is estimated to be in the billions.

President Obama said on his election campaign trail after the storm that Americans were at their best in times of crisis. Politicians have to pick nice things to say in order to get elected. One should not forget Hurricane Katrina five years ago. When Katrina struck, many poor people were stranded without food and water for many days. The local police opened fire at people who tried to loot a supermarket for food and water. When the federal government finally sent the army in to help, those troops came in with guns and armored vehicles as if to pacify a riot. Many people believed the American government was not sending relief to the disaster areas as quickly as it could because the victims of the storm were mostly African Americans and other minorities.

After Sandy, according to the report of NBC nightly news, many people in the poor neighborhoods complained that they were ignored, and the relief efforts were sent to the wealthier neighborhoods first.

To a more objective observer, natural disasters reveal the worst side of American society, the lack of coherence at the grassroots level and the division between classes and ethnicity. These problems are more hidden during normal times, but stand out in times of crisis. The people did not have effective community organization in place to carry out self-help. They often simply waited for the federal government to deliver aid to them. In a critical moment when there were no food and water, why should individuals have to loot food and water? They could have organized themselves into self-help groups. They should be able to legitimately enter supermarkets and take what food and water is available and leave a receipt in order to compensate the loss to the supermarkets after the storm. The police in a situation like that should not shoot. They are apparently trained too rigidly and unable improvise in a critical situation such as a natural disaster.

The US government and society apparently learned the lesson from Katrina, and it did not send in troops with machine guns to maintain order this time. But still a couple dozen of people were arrested by police for looting food in the wake of the storm.

Sandy is teaching us many lessons. The most important lesson is our vulnerability and weakness in dealing with natural disasters. Farmers represent only two percent of the American society. 98 percent of the people in the US live either in the urban centers or suburbs and have to get their produce from the supermarkets. Most of these people store no more than one week's supply of food in their homes. When natural disasters strike or other unexpected emergency situations arise, our ability to deal with the lack of food and fuel will be put to the test. It is startling how vulnerable we are despite how technologically advanced of a society we live in.

One of my students recently asked me what I think would be the impact of 3D printing technology. I told him that 3D or any other new technological breakthroughs and innovations would not change the fundamental fact that we humans need three simple meals a day to survive, and without those three meals a day, we are nothing.

The problem with our world is that we often forget this simple and basic truth. We put too much energy and time on some seemingly important but ultimately trivial endeavors all the while ignoring the truly important issues such as food security and food safety.

I am writing this article so that more people will begin to pay attention to agriculture and food. More importantly, I hope the Chinese Government, for the health and survival of the Chinese people, stop encouraging urbanization, and instead, take measures to improve rural infrastructure, like medical care and education, so that rural people will not be forced to leave their rural homes to live in the urban areas.

Concentration of population will cause more environmental and unemployment problems in the future. In addition, continued urbanization will only further tax China's food producing capabilities.

China must make sure that in the future it has the necessary food security to feed its people in times of extreme need.

The author is a Professor of Warren Wilson College in the US.

The opinions expressed here do not represent the views of the China Daily website.