Guardian (UK) Nov 22, 08 3:24 PM CST
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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 I don't see any place for the small farmers," said one analyst, who added that African and Southeast Asian countries will make good money from the sales.
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Food price hikes push everything but dirt out of reach for Haiti's poor
Guardian (UK) Jul 29, 08 6:08 AM CDT
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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 malnourished.
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Luxe meals by 60 chefs follow starvation talks
Independent (UK) Jul 8, 08 5:12 AM CDT
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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 dessert" for those who still had room after the dinner feast and the six-course working lunch.
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29 nations move to keep more food at home
New York Times Jun 30, 08 7:23 AM CDT
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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 restrictions are in turn fueling private hoarding. "People are in a panic, so they are buying more and more—at least, those who have money are buying,” a Philippine rice vendor tells the Times.
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Bad weather in US, Australia threatens harvests amid shortages
New York Times Jun 10, 08 7:14 AM CDT
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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 year than last, but drenched fields are preventing good results. “The anxiety level is increasing,” says a grains analyst.
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Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?
BBC Jun 4, 08 10:57 AM CDT
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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 to fill the fuel tanks of wealthy nations immoral. On the other: the US, Brazil, and the EU, the main players on the biofuel stage.
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President accused of presiding over starvation of his nation
BBC Jun 3, 08 3:06 AM CDT
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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 to further his own political goals.
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Millions at risk of starvation
BBC May 30, 08 6:46 AM CDT
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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 rising food prices. The bank will pour another $2 billion into agricultural programs next year.
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OPINION
A dollar of prevention is worth many times that in cure, researcher pleads
Wall Street Journal May 22, 08 4:55 PM CDT
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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 an “annual economic benefit” of $30 billion.
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27% of available food ends up in the trash
New York Times May 18, 08 11:06 AM CDT
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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 to restaurants scrapping uneaten dishes to home cooks pitching uneaten leftovers in the fridge.
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Wheat exports critically low as farmers flee parched land
BBC May 2, 08 8:33 AM CDT
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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 dropped by a third over the last 20 years.
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Congress must approve money, part of a larger Iraq funding measure
Reuters May 1, 08 3:40 PM CDT
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Amid rising food prices and overtaxed international reserves, President Bush proposed a new $770 million aid package today, Reuters reports. The money is part of a supplemental $70 billion measure that also includes Iraq war funding and would require a vote in Congress.
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International
'Year of the Potato' to highlight tuber's virtues
Reuters Apr 15, 08 2:39 AM CDT
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Sharp hikes in the prices of staples like wheat and rice are sending shockwaves around the world and convincing governments to rediscover the virtues of the potato, Reuters reports. Spuds are nutritious, will grow just about anywhere, and they yield up to four times more food per acre than other staples. Peruvians, faced with soaring wheat prices, have been switching to potato bread.
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Key factors threaten
in coming months
Associated Press Jan 9, 08 8:48 PM CST
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The world economy may be in for some shocks this year because of a potential US recession, record-setting oil prices and food shortages, warns a report by the World Economic Forum. Worries about terrorism, disease, and natural disasters have taken a back seat to world business leaders' concerns about an economic implosion. Slower growth in China and Middle East volatility are also on the watch list this year.
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Aid chiefs sound alarm in wake of chaos
Associated Press Jan 6, 08 8:32 AM CST
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Opposition leader Raila Odinga today rejected President Mwai Kibaki's offer of a unity government and demanded an international mediator, AP reports. "We want a properly negotiated settlement, not a coalition government," Odinga said, warning that his party would stage more rallies, threatening a new burst of violence after this weekend’s relative peace. Aid officials, meanwhile, warned that the continuing chaos threatens a national health crisis.
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