Contact Science, Tobacco & You at: stu@magnet.fsu.edu
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Competition With Food Crops
In many poor countries, much food has to be imported because the best farmland is being used to grow tobacco. The land used to grow tobacco in these countries could be used to grow enough food to feed from 10 to 20 million people. Even when some countries are suffering from food shortages, the best land is used to grow tobacco. The owners of farms in poor countries grow tobacco instead of food because tobacco companies and some governments encourage them to do so. They can make much more money growing tobacco than by growing food. Food then has to be imported from other countries. This makes the cost of food much higher. Many people in these countries are very poor and cannot afford to buy enough food for their families.
Center for Integrating Research and Learning at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
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