--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People were selling pyramids of oranges…" description: "\"“People were selling pyramids of oranges from wooden carts. Powdered milk and sacks of grain sat on the shelves of the little stores we passed, the ver..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/jeffrey-gettleman-15142_food_people-were-selling-pyramids-of-oranges_2357611.jpg" --- # People were selling pyramids of oranges from wooden carts… ![“People were selling pyramids of oranges from wooden carts. Powdered milk and sacks of grain sat on the shelves of the little stores we passed, the very food that little girl had needed to eat. It didn’t seem to make any sense, but famines are caused by shocks to the food distribution system, not…” quote by Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/jeffrey-gettleman-15142_food_people-were-selling-pyramids-of-oranges_2357611.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/jeffrey-gettleman-15142_food_people-were-selling-pyramids-of-oranges_2357611.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e31/jeffrey-gettleman-15142_food_people-were-selling-pyramids-of-oranges_2357611.jpg) > ““People were selling pyramids of oranges from wooden carts. Powdered milk and sacks of grain sat on the shelves of the little stores we passed, the very food that little girl had needed to eat. It didn’t seem to make any sense, but famines are caused by shocks to the food distribution system, not necessarily by poverty per se. There was still plenty of food in Somalia; it was just relatively expensive because of the drought and the rise in global food prices.”” [Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gettleman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Food crises can arise from supply chain disruptions, not just lack of food. **In simple terms:** Food shortages often stem from distribution shocks. Key Takeaway Address supply chain resilience. Themes food security economics humanitarian Mood concerned urgent Type analytical reportage When to use this quote - relief planning - policy making - NGO logistics - government response - community aid Key Concepts supply chain price volatility drought global markets Questions to Reflect On - How can we protect vulnerable populations from price spikes? - What policies improve food distribution during droughts? A Different Perspective Even with abundant food, access can be blocked by price and logistics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Little girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-girl/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) ## Related quotes > [Our economic approach to food and its distribution reflects our basic moral values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/our-economic-approach-to-food-and-its-distribution-reflects-our-basic/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“Famines are not natural disasters. Famines are man-made. Droughts happen from time to time. But in this century, for any drought to metastasize into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gettleman/famines-are-not-natural-disasters-famines-are-man-made-droughts/) [Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gettleman/) > [“Or he’d watch the news: more plagues, more famines, more floods, more insect or microbe or small-mammal outbreaks, more droughts, more chickenshit boy-soldier wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/or-he-d-watch-the-news-more-plagues-more-famines-more-floods-more/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [We traditionally in this world didn't have enough calories to feed all of us and had huge famines, not just in Africa, but had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-enriquez/we-traditionally-in-this-world-didn-t-have-enough-calories-to-feed/) [Juan Enriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-enriquez/) > [Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/famines-are-easy-to-prevent-if-there-is-a-serious-effort-to-do-so-and/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [But I felt certain that if the world would stop indulging wars and famines and other perils, it would be possible for human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/but-i-felt-certain-that-if-the-world-would-stop-indulging-wars-and/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Mass famines still strike some areas from time to time, but they are exceptional, and they are almost always caused by human politics rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/mass-famines-still-strike-some-areas-from-time-to-time-but-they-are/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [If the government is vulnerable to public opinion, then famines are a dreadfully bad thing to have. You can’t win many elections after a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/if-the-government-is-vulnerable-to-public-opinion-then-famines-are-a/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The redundant population, necessarily occasioned by the prevalence of early marriages, must be repressed by occasional famines, and by the custom of exposing children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-redundant-population-necessarily-occasioned-by-the-prevalence-of/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [After The Bomb we developed a fairly good system for moving food around and have avoided the kind of massive famines that attract the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/after-the-bomb-we-developed-a-fairly-good-system-for-moving-food/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [Famines were frequent in colonial India and some estimates indicate that 30 to 40 million died out of starvation in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/famines-were-frequent-in-colonial-india-and-some-estimates-indicate/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [I was born at the end of the 1993. The regime stopped giving food to the people. Three million people died from 1995 to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/park-yeon-mi/i-was-born-at-the-end-of-the-1993-the-regime-stopped-giving-food-to/) [Park Yeon-mi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/park-yeon-mi/) > [The experience of Somalia shows that famine in the late 20th century is not a consequence of a shortage of food. On the contrary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-chossudovsky/the-experience-of-somalia-shows-that-famine-in-the-late-20th-century/) [Michel Chossudovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-chossudovsky/) > [“There are no longer natural famines in the world; there are only political famines. If people in Syria, Sudan or Somalia starve to death,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/there-are-no-longer-natural-famines-in-the-world-there-are-only/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Famines are political. We all know that the immediate response to a famine must be food, aid, and shelter, but we should also look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-rudd/famines-are-political-we-all-know-that-the-immediate-response-to-a/) [Amber Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-rudd/) ## More by Jeffrey Gettleman > [“First comes Coke, then asphalt, then power lines, then maybe education, justice, and human rights.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gettleman/first-comes-coke-then-asphalt-then-power-lines-then-maybe-education/) [Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gettleman/) > [“The Oxford dons had accomplished the impossible. They made Africa boring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gettleman/the-oxford-dons-had-accomplished-the-impossible-they-made-africa/) [Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gettleman/) > [“The news of suffering takes a new shape when you’re a parent. 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It’s an addiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-gettleman/the-more-war-you-get-the-more-war-you-want-it-s-an-addiction/) [Jeffrey Gettleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-gettleman/) > [“as soon as the Berlin Wall came crumbling down, the Mobutus became an embarrassment. There was suddenly no reason to prop them up. 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You do know that right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ashworth/my-god-joseph-your-toasted-sandwiches-are-the-fucking-shit-you-do/) [Beth Ashworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ashworth/) > [I feel like I could eat the world raw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-feel-like-i-could-eat-the-world-raw/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [To me, Caribbean food is about fresh, seasonal produce - using what's in season to create vibrant and great tasting food. The spicing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ainsley-harriott/to-me-caribbean-food-is-about-fresh-seasonal-produce-using-what-s-in/) [Ainsley Harriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ainsley-harriott/) > [ “\[S\]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-the-possible-irrelevance-of/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [“if you cannot control your hunger and appetite, good luck managing your blood chemistry, metabolism, waistline, and, in the bigger picture, the prospect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/if-you-cannot-control-your-hunger-and-appetite-good-luck-managing/) [David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/) > [“Hungarian Proverb: A dish of cabbages can be heated when it grows cold, but it will never taste the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mourid-barghouti/hungarian-proverb-a-dish-of-cabbages-can-be-heated-when-it-grows-cold/) [Mourid Barghouti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mourid-barghouti/) > [“The phrase “low and slow” was coined to describe the relatively low temperatures used for smoking and the lengthy amount of time it takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-reader/the-phrase-low-and-slow-was-coined-to-describe-the-relatively-low/) Ted Reader > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. 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