Physical and Behavioral Responses to Starvation and Famine in Warsaw Ghetto versus the West African Sahel

Have you ever wondered how the Irish Potato Famine started or what farmers used when they got it. Did the physical environment play a part in the fungus carrying to the potatoes? What did the people do when all of their potatoes were gone? the answer to the question is the Irish famine was carried from a ship in the cool, moist environment made the blight thrive for that reason the potato crops were affected and they needed to import food from different countries.

The location and geography of the country has caused the people to experience famine after famine, leaving many to die from starvation. A famine is in definition, “A great shortage or an extreme scarcity of food over an extended period of time” (Webster). There are several different types of famine that occur in different types of the world. The type that Ethiopia generally goes through is called a Ravallion. During a Ravallion famine, there are unusually large amounts of causalities with extreme shortages of food in certain parts of the population. There are many things that cause famine, whether it’s draught, plague, or civil disrupt. Right now, Ethiopia is experiencing a draught that has killed almost all of their crops. Because of the famines that Ethiopia experiences most every year, there is usually an increase in the amount of people malnourished. This year, 11to 14 million people are expected to go hungry leaving many to starve to death. Ethiopia has experienced many draughts like these, the worst however, being in 1983. This draught lasted two years and the draught alone killed over 400,000 people in one year, this doesn’t include the deaths that were due to starvation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983%E2%80%931985_famine_in_Ethiopia).

The potato famine was the start of it all. Families in Ireland were starving, had contracted diseases, and were dying and having no hope of livelihood. It did not just kill thousands of people, but it also

2. The immediate cause of the starvation was the black marketeers hoarding the food and only selling it for very high prices. A street food vendor “offered three options to its customers: A price to see the food. A higher price to smell the food. [And, a] third price to eat the food.” (Mehta 522).

The Great Irish Potato Famine was during a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration through 1845-1850. According to the journal, “The Context of Migration: The Example of Ireland in the Nineteenth Century” by James H. Johnson, this caused the population of Ireland to decrease 20-25% and it did not stabilize again until the 1930’s. Although there was a potato crop failure in Europe in the 1840’s, one third of the Irish population was dependent on this crop. This was inevitable due to the sole dependency of the Irish people on home-grown potatoes and the population almost doubling from 1800 - 1840. The journal, “Spaces for Famine: A Comparative Analysis in Ireland and the Highlands in the 1840’s” by Liz Young states that “if the

The issue of hunger in africa has caused major chaos around the world. The fact that families and children are left to die because there is insufficient food; therefore, families are separated and left to suffer. For example, on page 1 of “Why Africa Is Still Starving”, by Alex Perry, it states that, “From January to May, the fields were parched and brown. And one failed harvest is enough to turn Ethiopia, a nation of 66 million farmers, a humanitarian catastrophe”. Alex Perry explains how the soil of Africa is not rich enough to grow any goods or rich crops.

The main crop in Ireland was potatoes, which they had grown successfully there since the late 1500’s. Nearly half of the population had potatoes and buttermilk for every meal. Farmers only grew a couple of different types of potatoes which caused them to have little genetic variety. Since their genetic variety was not diverse it set them up for a crop failure and made them more susceptible to disease. To add to the risk a new prime minister took over in Britain who decided to rely heavily on Ireland’s resources which made the famine

Great Famine- Period of mass starvation, disease and emigration: 1315-22 occurred in almost all of Northern Europe.

Seeing as how the Irish Potato Famine is perhaps the most well-known to American students, I conducted some basic research in order to find another example. Surprisingly, I found that there are some theories that suggest that famine could have played a role in the downfall of the Mayan civilization. According to an article written by Christopher Minster titled, "What Happened to the Ancient Maya?” the once striving civilization fell apart around 900 A.D. and there are several factors that could have played a part: disaster, war, civil strife, environmental change, and famine (Minster). For the sake of discussing famines, I will focus on the latter. Traditionally, the Mayans practiced the slash-and-burn form of agriculture, growing food such

The Irish Potato Famine was a devastating event that caused a huge amount of emigration from Ireland. By 1840, approximately one-third of the entire population of Ireland was completely dependent on the potato as their only supply of food. Because of this dependence on the potato, one could say it was a ticking time-bomb. These people did not have access to another food source. It started when a blight rampaged the potato crops in Ireland. The blight began to take over Ireland’s potato supply in September of 1845. This blight was brought ashore from cargo holds of ships arriving into Ireland. In the year of 1845

The Irish potato famine was the biggest mass starvation of a population to ever hit Irealand. From 1845 to 1850 this was the biggest mass death equivalent to a mass genocide. The potato blight disease that took over the irish potato was so prevelent that it caused 2 million deaths in Irealand. The actual famine began in 1846, the blight disease had attacked the potato more aggressively this particular year than the years prior. The potato stalks blackened the leaves rotted and the stench became noticable and unbearing. With all of the sights and smells the summer season took off with devastation of a potato that held such a high standard within the irish population. Shortage of the irish potato seed began and the decline of profits per square acreage was more paved in the dissolution of relationships between farmers and their laborers. Due to the blight, money wages then became a war with the laborers that once were called priveledged, such as, a cabin or a patch of potato ground in exchange for work performed. This then caused uproar with the farmers who refused to make cash payments to the laborers to surrender their plots. Massive default by unbound laborers payment in the autumn taught

The Great Ireland Potato Famine was a horrible event that had many lasting effects. Some of these effects were starvation, disease, poverty, emigration, and lost traits. These effects plagued mostly western Ireland, but had an overall effect on all of Ireland. Many of the traditional ways of economics and society changed drastically because of the famine. Many people also blamed the British for letting the famine get so bad. These effects will be discussed throughout the paper.

People began to collect as much food as possible. However, the amount of food that was grown and collected was not enough for everyone and did not last, resulting in all classes of society to suffer. Europeans took matters into their own hands and “drafted animals were slaughtered, seed grain was eaten, infants and the younger children were abandoned”in order to survive.(Malthus 1). The type of ordeals many Europeans encountered during the Great Famine is similar to the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Malthus himself connects the Great Famine to Hansel Gretel when he recounts certain scenes from the fairy tale.

things at the time was the anguished to look for food because at least 20 million people starved to death, as a result of malnutrition and other diseases towards people.

Many parts of this disaster are common to famines. Ireland suffered many years due to the Irish potato famine. It started in the year 1845 and lasted three years. The event was caused by a fungus (Phytophthora infestans). Diseases broke out and many people died from those diseases.