hunger

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly
 Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly 
Sep 5, 2008 12:50 PM CDT

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly

(Newser) - Does thinking make us fat? Researchers say that intellectual activity just might cause us to pig out, LiveScience reports. Volunteers who performed a series of problem-solving tasks in a study consumed almost 30% more calories afterward than those who just sat around and took it easy. One theory: The body...

Indian State Recommends Eating Rats

Adding rodents to menu pushed as solution to food crisis

(Newser) - Faced with high food prices and ebbing grain reserves, officials in the Indian state of Bihar have endorsed the consumption of rats, Reuters reports. The state government sees the strategy as a way to reduce the pest population as well as curb the demand for grain, and has even proposed...

Anti-'Frankenfood' Activists Should Modify Stance

Opposition to genetically souped-up crops has run its course

(Newser) - The recent destruction of a research crop of genetically modified potatoes in England highlights how attitudes towards altered crops have changed, the Economist writes. A decade ago, Greenpeace activists caught in the act of destroying food crops were acquitted because of popular fear of the consequences of “Frankenfoods.”...

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...

African Women Take Brunt of Food Crisis

As prices soar, mothers feed the men and eat what remains

(Newser) - As food and fuel prices continue to climb, impoverished families across Africa are hurting worse than ever—and women are suffering the most. The Washington Post follows one Burkina Faso mother in her daily struggle to feed her family and survive in a culture that puts her last at mealtime....

Biofuel Caused Food Crisis: Secret Report

Findings covered up to avoid US embarrassment

(Newser) - Biofuel production has been the driving force behind the growing food crisis, pushing prices up 75%, according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The most detailed research ever conducted on the issue emphatically contradicts the US position that biofuels are responsible for a mere 3% price...

'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe
 'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe 
Jun 18, 2008 3:05 PM CDT

'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe

South African president meets with Mugabe, though agenda unclear

(Newser) - South African president Thabo Mbeki visited counterpart Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe today, the Guardian reports, an attempt to play the role of mediator ahead of run-off elections June 27. With the UN warning that 5 million could face starvation in a country plagued by political violence, Mbeki's agenda was unclear—...

Burmese Junta Still Blocking Cyclone Aid

'Second disaster' looms if aid is not allowed in

(Newser) - Emergency supplies for some 1.5 million Burmese desperately in need of help are ready to be flown into the cyclone-stricken regions—but the military junta is still blocking delivery. Only two UN planes have been allowed to land in Burma. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tried unsuccessfully to telephone Burma's...

Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots
 Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots 
May 5, 2008 10:31 AM CDT

Two Shot in Somalia Food Riots

Thousands protest over inflation and soaring prices

(Newser) - Soldiers shot and killed at least two people in Somalia as thousands rioted over inflation and soaring food prices. A recent rash of counterfeiting has led some merchants to only accept US dollars, instead of local shillings, the BBC reports. In response, angry Somalis threw rocks and burned tires, shouting,...

Gods Go Hungry in Food Crisis
 Gods Go Hungry in Food Crisis 
Apr 30, 2008 1:13 PM CDT

Gods Go Hungry in Food Crisis

Inflation takes bite out of traditional offerings at Indian temples

(Newser) - Skyrocketing food prices have a new victim in India: Hindu deities. Supplicants offer milk and other food at temples where they pray, but with the cost of staples soaring, many are unable even to feed themselves, the Washington Post reports. "If poor people don't even have enough for bread,...

UN Ready to Tackle Hunger
UN Ready to Tackle Hunger
Apr 29, 2008 10:52 AM CDT

UN Ready to Tackle Hunger

Ban plans task force, calls on donors to deliver on sorely underfunded pledges

(Newser) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is putting together a task force to deal with an "unprecedented" world crisis that's left 100 million without enough food, the BBC reports. Ban also called on donors to follow through on pledges for the World Food Program, saying only 62% of the...

Rice Is the New Oil
 Rice Is the New Oil 
Apr 27, 2008 3:31 PM CDT

Rice Is the New Oil

Rising food prices threaten a more serious global crisis

(Newser) - Even as the burgeoning price of oil slaps consumers at the pump, a darker global market crisis looms as rising commodities prices compound the pressures of poverty worldwide. The UN has said that spiking food prices have started "a silent tsunami threatening to plunge more than 100 million people...

Food Crisis Is 'Mass Murder': UN Envoy

Official blames multinationals for surging food prices

(Newser) - A UN envoy called the world's food crisis "silent mass murder" today and blamed multinationals for "monopolizing the riches of the Earth," Reuters reports. Jean Ziegler, UN food rapporteur, chalked up surging food prices in poorer nations to biofuels, commodities markets, and EU subsidies—meaning the West...

G-7 Leaders Offer No Fix for Credit Crisis

Ministers endorse more transparency, but not coordinated action

(Newser) - Group of Seven finance ministers ended 3 days of meetings in Washington yesterday by endorsing a plan to create greater transparency and oversight in financial markets to avert future crises, but no emergency measures to stem the current one. Despite a downbeat report on the likelihood of worldwide recession, and...

UN Pleads for $500M in Food Aid
 UN Pleads for $500M in Food Aid 
Mar 24, 2008 4:59 AM CDT

UN Pleads for $500M in Food Aid

May cut food shipments to 73M hungry

(Newser) - A United Nations food program has issued an extraordinary emergency plea for an extra $500 million in aid, warning that shipments to the world's hungry may be rationed if the money can't be raised over the next month, reports the Financial Times. The World Food Program feeds some 73 million...

Climate Change May Trigger Crop Failures

Major food shortages predicted for Africa, Asia by 2030

(Newser) - Climate change could cause severe food shortages in South Asia and southern Africa, two of the poorest regions in the world, by 2030, National Geographic reports. "We were surprised by how much, and how soon, these regions could suffer if we don't adapt," said one of the study's...

Hunters Supply Food Banks as the Need Grows

Hard-pressed charities welcome protein as they face reduced shortages

(Newser) - Food banks facing shortages are welcoming game meat from hunters. Using the meat isn’t new, but this year the need is greater, as charities report more clients and reductions in their supplies, reports AP. One food bank in Montana received 7,500 pounds of game in 2006 and nearly...

35.5 Million Americans Going Hungry
35.5 Million Americans Going Hungry
Nov 15, 2007 1:50 AM CST

35.5 Million Americans Going Hungry

Rising costs, stagnant wages threaten even worse news next year

(Newser) - US programs failed to make a dent in the number of Americans going hungry last year, and activists warned that rising costs and stagnant wages threaten to increase the army of citizens struggling to put food on the table. Nearly 13 percent of households—35.5 million Americans, with 12....

More People Skipping Basics to Pay the Bills

Analysts shocked as food banks run short, stores adjust prices

(Newser) - More Americans are skipping breakfast and other basics just to pay the bills, the AP reports. With gas hitting highs this year and food prices up as much as 44%, even $35,000-plus wage earners are lining up for food, and food banks report acute shortages. One consultant says he...

Disease Fears Shadow Flood Victims
Disease Fears Shadow Flood Victims
Aug 7, 2007 3:48 PM CDT

Disease Fears Shadow Flood Victims

Relief workers struggle to supply food, medicine to waterlogged South Asia

(Newser) - Humanitarian efforts have come up short following massive floods in South Asia, sparking anger throughout the region. Hard-hit areas such as India's Bihar state have seen fighting over limited food and supplies, the BBC reports. An official in Bihar says relief efforts are now in “high gear,” but...

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