NHK's "News 7" last Monday led, unsurprisingly, with the Toyako, Hokkaido, Group of Eight summit. Within this segment of the news a substantial discussion of the world food crisis was followed by a piece on the menu being served to the summit leaders that day, including a detailed description of sea-urchin paste, homegrown asparagus, and delicious-looking horse crab.
The stark juxtaposition of images of starving Africans on the one hand, and the sumptuous meal about to be served to well-fed summit leaders engaged in discussing the issue of Third World food shortages on the other, left this viewer wondering whether this supreme irony was entirely unintentional or not.
nick henck
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