Wherever you go on holiday chances are that things are going to be different. There may be a different language or how people dress or how they act and react to different situations. This is known as culture and is an important part of each place's individual identity.
When you go on holiday it is important to respect local culture and remember that you are a guest in that place. Although it might seem or strange at first you will soon find that you can adapt to a new culture and even come to enjoy it and be part of it.
Therefore before going on a holiday you should do some work to research the local culture of where it is that you are going so that you know what to expect during your stay and so that you can show the upmost respect and understanding of the local culture.
The way you dress is important in some countries, particularly in Asia, some look at what other people are wearing as an idea of what is acceptable. You may be on your holiday but wearing a bikini, and even shorts, in some countries is frowned upon.
Food is another aspect of culture that differs around the world. Some countries will eat some food that we may not usually eat, and that we may even find offensive. However, to them this is normal. Be polite in turning down anything you do not want to eat but do not frown upon others for something that is part of their culture.
Body language is an important part of communicating but as with actual verbal language it can differ in other countries. You may find that some of our perfectly harmless gestures are in fact highly offensive to other cultures. Some countries don't like pointing and for some the nodding of the head can actually mean no.
Verbal language will probably be the biggest difference in culture that you will face in each country. Although most tourist reliant countries will speak a number of foreign languages you should still consider learning some of the basics as this will be much appreciated by the locals.
Finally, the simplest way to adapt to a new culture is to respect it. Even if you don't agree and understand it by being polite and accommodating then you soon come to accept it. Remember you are a guest in someone else's country when you go on holiday so a bit of basic research before you go away will help you enjoy your holiday a lot more.
Globalization and Poverty
Many farmers who traditionally grew pulses and millets and paddy have been lured by seed companies to buy hybrid cotton seeds and other GM crops, which were supposed to make their lives easier and wealthier. Instead they faced bankruptcy and ruin.
Their native seeds have been displaced with new hybrids which cannot be saved and need to be purchased every year at a high cost. Hybrids are also very vulnerable to pest attacks. All pesticides have to be bought from the company that sold them the seeds; there have been reports of blatant profiteering from these companies.
It is experiences such as these which tell me that we are so wrong to be smug about the new global economy. It is time to stop and think about the impact of globalization on the lives of ordinary people. This is vital if we want to achieve sustainability.
We are repeatedly told that without genetic engineering and globalization of agriculture the world will starve, it is constantly promoted as the only alternative available for feeding the hungry.
Everywhere, food production is becoming a negative economy, with farmers spending more buying costly inputs for industrial production than the price they receive for their produce. The consequence is rising debts and epidemics of suicides in both rich and poor countries. Cows in the European Union receive on average $2 per day in subsidies. Over 1 billion people live in the world on less than $1 dollar a day.
Farmers in the Third World are encouraged by the IMF and the World Bank to produce cash crops for export. There are usually commodities that can be easily bought and sold on the World Markets. With fluctuating world prices, Fair trade is what can drag farmers and communities out of poverty. In some African countries it is cheaper to buy American sugar and coffee than it is to buy locally produced goods. This is because of over production and subsidies in the West which means that they then dump these goods on Africa destroying local markets.
When patents are granted to companies for seeds and plants, as in the case of basmati, saving and sharing seed is defined as theft of intellectual property. Corporations which have broad patents on crops such as cotton, soya bean and mustard are suing farmers for seed-saving and hiring detective agencies to find out if farmers have saved seed or shared it with neighbours.
As Gandhi reminded us, "The Earth has enough for everyone's needs, but not for some people's greed."
This article has been adapted with the kind permission from Food Patents-Stealing Indigenous Knowledge
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