The Global Banquet

"This program already summarises its plot in its title and subtitle: The Global Banquet (by invitation only) shows the grave impact which international trade policies have on small farmers in third world countries as well as in industrialised countries such as the U.S..
In its first part (“Who’s invited?”) it portrays the global food market in which a few big companies control most of the world’s food production and dictate prices which make it impossible for small farmers to nourish themselves and their families. Therefore thrown into poverty many try to make a living working in the cities or as farm workers under inhuman conditions or even commit suicide. The first part of the programme is concluded by the appeal to revalue food and food production and to recognise that “what nature gives us is precious and important for a sustainable existence on earth”, as one of the interviewed farmers says.
The second part (“What’s on the menu”) takes up the appeal of the first part and focuses on the lack of consciousness about the food we eat and how it is produced. A very famous example of unfavourable food production is the production of “cheap beef” which causes deforestation of big parts of the rain forest. Besides the program illustrates the enormous risks evolving from genetical food manipulation and shows the cruel habit of “Biopiracy”: Giant biotechnology firms take patents on small farmers’ ideas and use them in favour of their own success which always means the exclusion of the ordinary farmers from the benefits."