March 26th – April 1st, 2009 Vol. XXXI, No: 24
University of Toronto’s community newspaper Independent since 1978
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4 Gold on tap 5 Descended from apes 3 Hate to break it to you...
6 Game on! 7 Rock out with your sock out 7 Schtick it to ya
Hunger pains
Venice Apprentice
JENNY DUONG
JAKUB JAKAL
Social Justice Bureau
Arts & Careers Bureau
Food practices leave people starving
As part of Hunger Awareness Week at U of T, Dr. Leslie Jermyn, anthropology professor and co-founder of GlobalAware, presented her views at Speakers Day on March 19th. From the farm to the supermarket, this discussion served to elucidate the flaws of the international food system. According to Jermyn, regardless of the amount of food produced globally, over a billion people go to bed hungry every single night. Part of the problem has to do with the machinery of the international economy. Along with mass production, technological advancements including sophisticated machinery and complex irrigation systems contribute to generating the highest crop yields with the least pecuniary input. Governments often encourage farmers to purchase such updates; however, because these products are owned by large private corporations that sell for profit, small-scale farmers
Sought by U of T’s Barnicke Gallery
Mark-jan Dalderoop of Foodshare smiles with apples produced by Norfolk Fruit Growers. Foodshare purchases 3000lbs of apples per week and distributes them to school breakfast and lunch programs across Ontario. The apples they sell, though perfectly nutritious, would normally be left on the tree by companies seeking only “Grade A” apples.
A pool of U of T student applicants will be vying for the coveted Venice Apprentice spot at this year’s International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. Replace Donald Trump with Hart House Barnicke Gallery curator Barbara Fischer and business savvy with an eye for art and you have all the makings of a drama-infused spin-off of The Apprentice. What remains to be decided is who will help represent Canada from the U of T student body. The Barnicke Gallery’s nomination for representation of Canada at Venice Biennale is a great success as it is only the third museum in Ontario and the first U of T gallery to be selected in
cooperation with Mark Lewis, a renowned video artist who is representing Canada at the Biennale with his short silent films that use classic film techniques combined with digital technology. When asked what the Canada pavilion would look like, Fischer explains that “the artist is working on several films and will be developing these until May; that’s when we know what the films will actually look like. Also, part of our project is revision of the pavilion architecture itself.” It goes without saying that it’s not going to be easy to get a spot at such a prestigious and extraordinary event. Despite the tough odds, Barbara Fischer thinks it is important to give stu-
Photo: Jenny Duong
do not have the resources to jump onto the mass production conveyor belt. As a result, the Farming
Industry is increasingly being controlled by fewer people, “Hunger” - Continued on page 5...
Low economy? High time The government has a need for weed MIRANDA BEGLEY Economics Bureau When certain illegal industries are looked at objectively in terms of their possible financial benefit to society, and their relative lack of harm to it, the natural conclusions often cry out in favour of legalization. According to the 2008 Angus Reid poll, for example, more than 50 percent of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana – a statistic determined even before the country was in the midst of a recession demanding new influxes of money for government spending. To be sure, money – making it, spending it – doesn’t always
Is this where economists will find the answer to the current financial crisis? The numbers seem to suggest just that. Photo: Ashley Minuk
breed ethical behaviour, and resistance to marijuana legalization by certain conservative segments of society appears to be rooted in a sort of obsession with regulating the ways in which people handle their money based on ethical terms – a specific set of codes that seem only to arise in response to issues like drugs or sexuality. The Conservative government, in the midst of a 30 billion dollar deficit, continues to spend 500 million dollars a year to uphold charging systems and manda“High” - Continued on page 5...
One Venice Apprentice hopeful will travel with Barnicke Gallery Curator Barbara Fischer to represent Canada at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Photo: Tata Rams
the nationwide competition. The competition is organized every two years by the Council for the Arts in Ottawa, which invite museums, galleries, and curators to make proposal about the artist they feel should represent Canada in Venice. This year, Barbara Fischer has won the nomination in
dents the chance to participate: “We created this position because we feel the Venice project is a really great opportunity and we want students to take part in something like that.” Only four U of T students will get through the online “Venice” - Continued on page 7...