Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: food shortage

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Insects: Our Next Food Craze?

UN agency considers benefits of a critter diet

(Newser) - Cambodian deep-fried tarantula, anyone? A chocolate ant wafer or curried cockchafer? Such meals are already popular in many nations, but now the UN is investigating whether we should all munch on the critters. In his Guardian blog, Fraser Lewry says stats favor an insect diet: After all, the world population... More »

Food Prices Will Double by 2030: Oxfam

Climate change, biofuels partially to blame

(Newser) - The cost of food staples is set to more than double over the next two decades, Oxfam says, as we enter a “permanent food crisis." World hunger had steadily decreased for decades, the Guardian reports, but with demand exceeding production, the numbers of hungry people are once again... More »

N. Korea on Kim's Birthday: Let People Eat, Um, Nothing

Dear Leader parties; no 'gifts' for Koreans

(Newser) - North Korea held its usual lavish celebration to mark Kim Jong Il’s 69th birthday today—even though the desperately poor country couldn’t afford to hand out its usual “birthday gift” of food rations to the people. In one northeastern province, even ruling party officials haven’t gotten... More »

Soon, We'll Have to Grow Meat in Vats: Scientists

Brave new measures may be needed to feed population

(Newser) - The global population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050, and some of the world's leading scientists say that one of the best ways to feed so many people is to grow artificial meat in vats. Though other ideas were presented in a set of 21 newly published papers,... More »

N. Korea Allows Private Food Markets

Pro-capitalist policy shift comes amid growing famine

(Newser) - North Korea has effectively admitted that it can't feed its citizens by allowing people to buy food and other necessities at private markets, the Washington Post reports. Such markets have existed under the radar for years, but the government order sanctioning what amounts to capitalism "abandons all pretense of... More »

Another Big Aftershock Rocks Chile

6.1 temblor, others prompt brief tsunami warnings

(Newser) - A 6.1-magnitude aftershock struck Chile in the past hour, further jangling nerves on a day when the government mistakenly issued tsunami warnings for coastal areas still sorting out the effects of last week’s 8.8 earthquake. President Michelle Bachelet took to the airwaves today to reassure the nation,... More »

Desperate Hunger Plagues N. Korea, Forces Change

Rampant malnutrition fuels capitalist markets

(Newser) - North Korea has, in its words, an “eating problem”: unable to feed its residents, it has become the world’s first nuclear-armed “beggar,” the Washington Post reports. Malnutrition has led to a spate of mental and physical disabilities—a quarter of potential troops will be disqualified because... More »

Mugabe Thugs Collect for Presidential Pig-Out

Starving country's ruling party gets tough to tackle champagne, caviar shortage

(Newser) - Aggressive supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling party have been pressing the country's farmers and businesses for "donations" to fund Robert Mugabe's ultra-luxe 85th birthday bash, the Times of London reports. A wish list supplied to the Times includes 8,000 bottles of champagne, 8,000 lobsters, and 4,000 portions... More »

Gazans Hunker Down in 'Worst' Time of All

Refugees arrive in city with horror stories

(Newser) - Lentils and bread nearly are all Safwat al-Kahlout can offer the 20 relatives holed up in his powerless Gaza City apartment, he writes in the Christian Science Monitor. As Israeli tanks roll through the city's outskirts, family members have fled inward to his flat. "I took my clothes and... More »

Rich Nations Snap Up Third World Farmland

(Newser) - Rich nations are buying up farmland in developing countries and drawing the ire of some critics, the Guardian reports. One UN official said the purchases, designed as a hedge against food shortages, could put poor nations at risk of starving to feed the wealthy. In "this scramble for soil... More »

Haitians Turn to Mud Cakes to Fill Empty Bellies

Food price hikes push everything but dirt out of reach for Haiti's poor

(Newser) - Impoverished Haitians have been reduced to living off mud cakes, the Guardian reports. The cakes of clay and water—long eaten by poor pregnant women seeking calcium—are increasingly the only food many families can afford. The global fuel and food crisis has hit Haiti, and half the population is... More »

G8 Leaders Chew on Global Food Crisis Over Caviar

Luxe meals by 60 chefs follow starvation talks

(Newser) - The global food crisis tops the agenda at this year's G8 summit—and the talks seem to be hungry work, reports the Independent. The 18 dishes at the eight-course luxury dinner served to the leaders last night included caviar, sea urchin, and Kyoto beef—followed by a "G8 fantasy... More »

Export Bans Push Food Costs Even Higher

29 nations move to keep more food at home

(Newser) - Alarmed by high food prices and shortages worldwide, some 29 countries are banning or reducing exports of foods to make sure they have enough at home. Such limitations pose a threat to countries that rely on imports, forcing prices up further, the New York Times reports. What’s more, the... More »

Poor Crops Threaten to Worsen Food Crisis

Bad weather in US, Australia threatens harvests amid shortages

(Newser) - Amid fears of looming food shortages around the world, this year’s crops aren’t providing much hope, the New York Times reports. While farmers in America have been hit with too much rain, Australian farmers are battling the effects of drought. US farmers planted 4 million more acres this... More »

Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit

Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?

(Newser) - The battle over biofuels is raging at the UN’s food summit in Rome, with nations bitterly divided over whether growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol production is pushing food prices up and helping create disastrous global food shortages. On one side: Food experts who call diversion of crops... More »

Leaders Rip Mugabe's 'Obscene' Trip to Food Talks

President accused of presiding over starvation of his nation

(Newser) - British and Australian ministers have blasted Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's attendance at a world food summit in Rome, charging him with turning his nation from the breadbasket of Africa into a country plagued by food shortages, reports the BBC. They also criticized him for using food aid given to ZImbabwe... More »

World Bank Offers $1.2B in Food Aid

Millions at risk of starvation

(Newser) - The World Bank is offering an emergency $1.2 billion in aid to several nations in a desperate bid to stave off starvation for millions of people, reports the BBC. The money is being offered to Haiti, Liberia, Djibouti, Togo, Yemen and other nations identified as at immediate risk from... More »

Make Dams and Food, Not War and Ethanol

A dollar of prevention is worth many times that in cure, researcher pleads

(Newser) - Ethanol is among the "poor solutions to high-profile problems" researcher Bjorn Lomborg blasts in the Wall Street Journal. According to calculations by his Copenhagen Consensus, “carbon mitigation policies” return only 90 cents for every dollar spent; in contrast, he writes, $1 billion spent on tuberculosis would result in... More »

As World's Belly Rumbles, Gluttonous US Tosses Food

27% of available food ends up in the trash

(Newser) - Americans throw out roughly a quarter of all food available for consumption, even as grocery prices skyrocket and global riots break out over food shortages, the New York Times reports. That works out to about a pound of food every day for every American—from grocery stories tossing spoiled produce... More »

'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms

Wheat exports critically low as farmers flee parched land

(Newser) - The worst drought in a century has forced a tenth of Australian farmers off the land, reports the BBC. The "Big Dry" has led to parched farmland across the nation over the last seven years, accelerating the exodus from rural areas. The number of farming families in Australia has... More »

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne