food supply

18 Stories

Fungal Attacks Could Imperil Food Supply, Researchers Warn

Rising temperatures are exacerbating the problem

(Newser) - Fungal disease is likely to become a greater global danger, especially to the food supply, say researchers who caution that inaction could result in a health catastrophe. Researchers issued an urgent warning about fungi, which destroy more crops than any other cause, in an article published Tuesday in Nature . They...

We Probably Didn't Have a Meat Shortage After All

House panel report: Tyson, other meat-processing companies made 'baseless' claims of scarcity

(Newser) - Workers at meat-processing plants were forced to clock in to work during the early days of the pandemic, thanks to an executive order out of the Trump administration deeming them essential workers amid what was said to be a beef and pork shortage. Except now it seems that last part...

Experts Warn of Widespread Food Shortages, Social Unrest

The global food supply was already in peril before the outbreak of war

(Newser) - A food crisis was brewing well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now, a global food shortage seems inevitable, and it may persist. "There is no precedent even close to this since World War II," according to the World Food Program, per reporting in the New York Times....

As Meat Plants Shut Down, an Ominous Warning

Food supply chain is 'breaking' amid pandemic, says John Tyson, chair for Tyson Foods

(Newser) - Smithfield Foods and JBS have closed meat-processing sites , while Tyson Foods shut down pork plants in Iowa and Indiana last week after they were found to be hot spots for coronavirus outbreaks. Now Tyson is issuing a dire warning on the state of the industry as a result of the...

Experts Say World Urgently Needs a New Diet

They advise reducing red meat to 1 serving a week

(Newser) - A hamburger a week, but no more—that's about as much red meat people should eat to do what's best for their health and the planet, according to a report seeking to overhaul the world's diet . Eggs should be limited to fewer than about four a week,...

Climate Change Will Pinch Food Supply: UN Panel

Draft report less optimistic than one in 2007

(Newser) - UN scientists see bad things happening to the world's food supply in the next several decades even as demand increases, reports the New York Times . A draft report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007) predicts that climate change will cut agricultural...

Horse Meat Found in UK School Lunches

Scandal also spreads to Norway

(Newser) - Looks like UK schoolkids are among the many who have been unwittingly eating horse meat . DNA tests have found horse meat in cottage pies sent to 47 Lancashire schools. Officials believe only a "minute" amount of the rogue meat was actually consumed by children, and say the meat isn'...

Climate Change Makes Animals, People 'Shrink'

Warmer, drier weather makes plants and animals get smaller

(Newser) - Plants, polar bears, and people are among the living things likely to shrink thanks to global warming, scientists say. Drawing on several scientific papers, the Telegraph reports that warmer, drier weather makes plants and animals get smaller, which reduces food supplies for those higher up the food chain. "The...

Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Death Toll Passes 10K
 Japan Death Toll 
 Passes 10K 
Mar 25, 2011 6:00 AM CDT

Japan Death Toll Passes 10K

17K still missing as concern grows over food, water

(Newser) - A sad milestone out of Japan: Two weeks after the quake struck, its official death toll has broken the 10,000 mark—and that number is still on the rise, with more than 17,400 missing. Police estimate the toll will surpass 15,000 in the hardest-hit prefecture alone. Among...

Honeybees Stung by Bad Winter, Pesticides

4-year run of dropping numbers just got worse

(Newser) - Beleaguered honeybees are having a harder time than ever before after an especially harsh winter and heavy pesticides discovered in their hives and pollen. A massive die-off of the valuable creatures is topping off 4 years of troubling population declines. Scientists are trying to nail down the exact mechanism causing...

US Food Safety Not Improving: Feds

CDC shows plateau in food sickenings over the last three years

(Newser) - The safety of the US food supply from disease or contamination has not significantly improved in recent years, the New York Times reports today. A survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that occurrences of major illnesses from tainted food have held steady for the past 3...

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...

US Predicts Bumper Crops Will Ease Food Crisis

Record-breaking grain harvests worldwide expected to bring prices back down

(Newser) - Farmers worldwide will reap record-breaking harvests of wheat and rice this year, the US projects, and the news is expected to ease some of the worldwide concern about food prices. The USDA says good weather will bring bumper crops that will replenish depleted stocks, Reuters reports. Analysts warned, however, that...

Bush: $770M Needed For Food Aid

Congress must approve money, part of a larger Iraq funding measure

(Newser) - 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.

Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer
 Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer 
Apr 30, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

Another Key Shortage: Fertilizer

Prices skyrocket, ingredients scarce as growing population demands more food

(Newser) - One of the less touted factors behind the global food crisis is a shortage in chemical fertilizer, which has helped boost crop yields dramatically and particularly benefited the developing world. But while growing demand is unlikely to be met for many years, the environmental impact of producing and using chemical...

Costco Sees High Demand for Basics Rice, Flour

CEO attributes run to customer uncertainty over food supplies

(Newser) - Costco is seeing unusually high demand for basics such as rice and flour, Reuters reports, a development the warehouse giant attributes to customer uncertainty over global food shortages. The company, which sells to individual shoppers as well as restaurants, has put limits in place for those items at some stores....

Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis
Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis
Apr 15, 2008 2:39 AM CDT

Humble Spud Could Solve Food Crisis

International 'Year of the Potato' to highlight tuber's virtues

(Newser) - 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...

FDA Plans to Open Outpost in China
FDA Plans to Open Outpost
in China
Feb 6, 2008 6:00 AM CST

FDA Plans to Open Outpost in China

Inspectors could block contaminated food from being exported to US

(Newser) - America's food imports from China are rising and the Food and Drug Administration is planning to start exporting American inspectors to protect the US food supply, Reuters reports. FDA officials hope to open a China office to help them raise food safety standards and to make it easier to act...

18 Stories
Most Read on Newser