Kayla Nobles Period: 2/3

Venezuelans Ransack Stores as Hunger Grips the Nation

Nicholas Casey

Entry #1, Pages 1-6, 9/19/2017, 20 minutes

SECTION A

Connections
While reading this article I started making the connection of how this information is
relevant to our project well be working on this semester. I also think this article was
assigned to us to help people determine if Venezuela would be a country they would be
interested in researching for their final product on Exhibition.

Problems
While reading this article I felt like I wasn't absorbing and understanding as much
information on page five as I shouldve been. I also encountered eight words I didnt
understand the meaning of.

Solutions
I reread page five twice and I understood the relevance of the information and what was
happening in the text a lot better than when I first read it. I also looked up the definitions
of the words I was confused about.

Words I Didnt Know:

Convulsing - Throw (a country) into violent social or political upheaval.
Subsidies - A sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an
industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or
competitive.
Repression - The action of subduing someone or something by force.
Fallow - (Of farmland) plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to
restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production.
Brigades - A subdivision of an army, typically consisting of a small number of infantry
battalions and/or other units and often forming part of a division.
Bodega - A small grocery store, especially in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood.
Referendum - A general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has
been referred to them for a direct decision.
Emblazoned - Conspicuously inscribe or display (a design) on something.

SECTION B
 Kayla Nobles Period: 2/3

What strikes me about this text is how dire the food situation has become in Venezuela. Before
today I had barely heard of the problems in Venezuela so I had no idea how bad it really is. A
quote from the text that really struck me was, And they showed that even in a country with the
largest oil reserves in the world, it is possible for people to riot because there is not enough
food. The reason why that quote struck me was because when I read it I wondered where all the
money from the oil business in Venezuela is going. If they have the largest oil reserves in the
world why are their people struggling so much.

Important Things I Learned:

I learned that 87 percent of Venezuelans say they do not have enough money for food.
I learned that 72 percent of monthly wages in Venezuela are spent just to buy food.
I learned that a Venezuelan family would need the equivalent of 16 minimum-wage
salaries to properly feed itself.
I also learned that more that 50 food riots, mass lootings and protests have broken out in
Venezuela.

SECTION C

Small Question: Why doesnt Venezuela grow more of its own food rather than pay to have
food imported?

Big Question: Do you think that the Venezuelan government rationing and distributing the food
supply is helping the food crisis or making it worse?

Research Question: What is being done to help the Venezuelan food crisis? What needs to be
done?

SECTION D

My kids tell me theyre hungry, Ms.Cordova said as her family looked on. And all I can say
to them is to grin and bear it (Page 3, Line #9-10)

I highlighted this quote because its hard for me to fathom how difficult everyday life has
become for families in Venezuela. Its sad to think about how this poor family is starving and
they have just accepted that this is the way they have to live. It makes me want to do everything I
can to help the food crisis in Venezuela to prevent more families from having to live this way.