Increases in population, pollution and transportation costs matched with decreases in farmland, water supply and market prices are some of the oft-cited causes of the global food crisis. In a recent OP-ED piece in the New York Times, Columbia University professor Dickson D. Despommier writes about how some of these challenges to growing food can […]
The recent issue of Time Magazine reflects on how America eats, what it pays for its food and the source of its food supply. Citing that: For all the grumbling you do about your weekly grocery bill, the fact is you’ve never had it so good, at least in terms of what you pay for […]
Asia’s food demand is projected to double in the next forty years. Why? By 2050, Asia’s population is projected to increase by 1.5 billion people. With this larger population, scientists predict that Asia will have to import more than 25% of its food staples in order to keep its people from starving. With new fertile […]
The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) released a report this week revealing Britain’s food supply vulnerabilities and strategies for combating a domestic shortage should the ongoing global crisis intensify. Although the UK is largely self-sufficient with regards to food production, the Defra plan focuses largely on increasing that productivity, perhaps through […]
The Washington Post reported on the effects of the global food crisis in Nigeria, where 38% of children under 5 years old are starving and 65% of its population is unsure of the source of their next meal. Nigeria has been unable to exploit its agricultural resources despite its wealth from having the largest oil […]
For you tomato lovers out there, good luck this season. According to Dan Barber’s op-ed piece in the New York Times, tomatoes have been scarce this year, especially in the Northeast United States, and we’ve already seen price increases of 20%. So what’s the problem? Late blight—the same plant disease that caused the Irish potato […]
Although the fact is often underestimated, there is a significant number of people in the U.S. who face hunger each day. According to Bread for the World, 35.5 million people (including 12.6 million children) in the United States are faced with hunger or the risk of hunger. On July 14th and 15th, the organization Feeding […]
Last week, the Obama administration announced new initiatives designed to improve food safety in the United States, which has had some high profile incidents of contamination in the past year. First, the White House has established a new website, www.foodsafety.gov as a “Gateway to Government Food Safety Information.” The website serves as a clearinghouse of […]
The FDA has confirmed the prescence of E. Coli 0157 in raw samples of refrigerated Toll House cookie dough produced in its Danville, VA plant. The FDA and CDC had been tracking the E. Coli outbreak, suspecting Nestlé’s raw Toll House cookie dough, since it was the one food commonly consumed by the over 70 […]
For its June 2009 issue, National Geographic magazine spotlighted the ongoing global food crisis with an in-depth Special Report by Joel K. Bourne, Jr entitled “The End of Plenty.” Bourne’s article provides a full and compelling analysis of the genisis of the food suppy probelm, the benefits and failures of the Green Revolution, the effect […]
Last week, Nestlé announced a voluntary recall of its Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough (frozen and refrigerated) after it was suspected to be the source of an outbreak of E. coli 0157. With over 70 people falling ill to this strain of E. coli since March, the FDA is investigating the link between the […]
Access to food, restricted by conditions related to the Global Financial Crisis, has exacerbated the Global Food Crisis, says the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) new estimate. The full report will be released in October. With global food markets still recovering from the 2008 food crisis, lower incomes and unemployment have pushed more people […]
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the U.S. is overpaying for the purchasing and delivery of food aid that it donates to those in need, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Despite being the largest overall donor of food aid, the practice of buying food products from U.S. […]
The soaring price of food was one of the drivers of the Global Food Crisis, making it difficult for people to purchase food for themselves or feed for their animals. The Financial Times cites a biannual United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report that states that amount spent globally on food supplies will decrease […]
The Obama administration is seeking $200 million in emergency aid for Pakistani refugees who have fled the Swat Valley region during a military campaign to oust Pakistani Taliban. In the areas cleared of the Taliban by the Pakistani military; shortages of power, water, food and medical supplies have raised the concern of the U.S. government, […]