Haiti's poorest reduced to eating dirt

Mud cookies - made from dirt, salt and vegetable shortening - have become popular among Haitians desperate to stave off hunger, the Associated Press reports.

The cookies - which are occasionally used by pregnant women and children as an antacid and source of calcium - have become a regular meal.

Seventy-six per cent of the population lives on less than $2.25 a day, and 55 per cent live on less than $1.13 a day.

The mud cookies sell for around five cents each, compared to 60 cents for two cups of rice.
The photos of hundreds of dirt cookies that are made are incredible.

Amazing what people will do to survive, and also amazing that given their poverty they keep bringing in kids into the world. Haiti has almost the same population as neighbouring Dominican Republic, but only half the area and 20% of the per capita GDP.

Inspirational or straight Pathos?