A few of my peers and I had the opportunity to have a dinner conversation with visiting fellow, Ruth Magreta.  Our discussion revolved around agricultural production in Malawi and how climate change is drastically altering the environment.  While those living in the United States may not feel as though climate change is a significant issue, regions such as Malawi are already feeling its effects.  For many families, growing crops and trading it with neighbors was their primary source of food.  Climate change, however, has devastated agricultural production in the region and has left people wondering why this natural phenomenon has occurred.  When I asked about the potential use of GMOs to solve this food shortage, I was surprised to hear that people in the region would rather starve than eat “unnatural food”.

It was disheartening to hear how political donors influence the policies that are enacted in Malawi as well as the United States.  In both countries, the government is driven by who can provide campaign contributions and who can appease the masses the fastest.  It is a shame that the United States’ decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord will inevitably effect regions such as Malawi.

Lastly, I thought Ruth’s discussion on cultural differences between the United States and Malawi was very interesting.  She was very surprised to hear that a majority of students at Cornell were women.  In Malawi, this was atypical.  Women were either tending to their children or participated in a domestic role.  This dinner conversation made me realize how fortunate we are to live in a place where we don’t need to worry about putting food on our plates or having a roof over our heads.