The day after news channels and politicians got their combined knickers in a twist about George Bush’s comments on India’s food consumption contributing to rising prices some interesting stats :

Figures released by the US Department of Agriculture for 2007 say each Indian eats only 178 kg of grain in a year, while a US citizen consumes 1,046 kg.
Likewise, milk consumption per person per year is 36 kg in India, while in the United States is 78 kg. While each American consumes 45.5 kg poultry meat per year, an Indian takes in only 1.9 kg.
Besides, while the US per capita grain consumption rose from 946 kg in 2003 to 1,046 kg in 2007, India’s per capita consumption remained static during this period.

I am too lazy to do primary research. I am sure that Arab News has not made up the figures and it comes from the correct primary source. (aside - ToI carried a similar piece yesterday, here.

I also think that while Bush is an ass and a moron, he has been taken out of context and hammered, and this is not a new phenomenon for the Indian media. They did that to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not so long ago when they went to town with ‘PM says that Musllims must have first claim on resources. ‘

Tags: Food Crisis, George Bush, India, Media, Media Bias, Media Hysteria, Sensationalism