The Food Weapon: Mightier than Missiles

        Henry Kissinger, American diplomat, political scientist, and 56th Secretary of State stated this in response to Food Politics,

"Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls the money can control the world.(1973)"

       Summary of "U.S. Grain Arsenal," Latin America and Empire Report, October 1975

This summary is broken down into 7 subsections all discussing the means of how Food is and HAS been used as a weapon within the last decades. This is a helpful source because it gives specific cases where food was an effective weapon.

I.   The Aid Weapon

                         "The chief weapon in the US food arsenal is the food aid program."

During and after WWII we used federal aid packages to control Anti-Communist groups in Russia and Nationalist groups in China, both had the mission of exterminating Communism in their respective countries.

II.  Kissinger’s Food Diplomacy

"One solution was to divert US aid through multilateral institutions dominated by the US and another was to use food aid to support US diplomatic objectives."

The public's opposition to the Vietnam War made it difficult to get Congress to support other military objectives. So generals found a way around it buy using food aid packages as a weapon.

III.  Food for War

"Ultimately the White House circumvented (evaded) Congress by just upping the amount of PL 480 aid (Food for Peace) from $1 billion to $1.6 billion."

More money had to be funneled into the creating food aid packages and it created several bumps in the government.

IV.  Food Power in Chile

"Since the coup there has been resistance for overt economic and military aid by the US so the importance of food aid has gone up."

Food shortages backed up the government in Chile and it created discourse across its population. The purchasing power of items was significantly skewed, inflation and erosion greatly effected essential products.

V.  The CCC(Agriculture Departments Commodity Credit Corporation)

                        "...virtually unlimited spending authority and like PL 480 is turned on and off."

This department helped to keep U.S. Relations within foreign markets while keeping countries wanting to invest and build credit with the U.S.

VI.    South Korea & Middle East

  "Food aid is being used to fill in the gap, as the US wants to modernize the S. Korean military."

The U.S is using food aid in South Korea to help modernize they're army and in Egypt to stray the people away from Radial Arab groups.

VII.  Food Blackmail Against the Third World

"Third World countries not only want control of their resources but also a restructuring of the international economic system that serves the interests of the developed nations."

Developing countries are now realizing the strains that are being put on their countries and they want to find a way to have more control over their own natural resources.

Summary: Food is not only used as a bargaining tool, but also a means of exerting power over developing (more often then not Third World) countries.

Source: https://goo.gl/pGDBmT