In the history of the world, no society with democratic elections and free speech has ever experienced a famine

I would love this to be true but is it?  From Conformity by Cass R Sunstein

Various civil liberties, including freedom of speech, can be seen as an effort to insulate people from the pressure to conform, and the reason is not only to protect private rights but also to protect the public against the risk of self-silencing. A memorable claim by the philosopher Joseph Raz clarifies the point: “If I were to choose between living in a society which enjoys freedom of expression, but not having the right myself, or enjoying the right in a society which does not have it, I would have no hesitation in judging that my own personal interest is better served by the first option.”48 The claim makes sense in light of the fact that a system of free speech confers countless benefits on people who do not much care about exercising that right. Consider the fact that in the history of the world, no society with democratic elections and free speech has ever experienced a famine—a demonstration of the extent to which political liberty protects people who do not exercise it.

This thesis was originally advanced by Amarty Sen.  Discussed in Does Democracy Avert Famine? by Michael Massing