Here’s to being contrarian
My gripes with Free Rice, the site everyone loves to love, especially in games for change/serious games circles:
1) The game suggests that if we just make more rice for the poor people, hunger will end! To end world hunger, and particularly famine, we probably need to think more about the way we distribute food—e.g. the way food markets react to local or short-term food shortages, affecting food prices. The UN will never be able to ship enough rice to repair a bad market; if anything we should look towards the resilient communities model. (I don’t totally know what I’m talking about here—lux, do you know how to solve world hunger?) Either way, Free Rice makes us feel good about a shitty solution.
2) The game has no relation whatsoever to world hunger. This isn’t damning, but alignment is a plus—and a game that’s supposed to help kiddies study for the SATs (it also does this badly) is anything but aligned.
3) The game generates revenue for rice through banner ads on the site. Is this not a most appalling instantiation of post-industrial capitalism’s perverted ideology? What hidden arrangement makes it possible for the mere passive attention of one class to determine the livelihood of another?
Everyone should never not feel terrible about this site.
