Recent concerns about a drought afflicting China’s wheat-growing region and the threat to the supply of wheat available to Chinese people has abated with rain and snow finally arriving in the last two weeks. The New York Times reported that after 50 days without rain in China’s northern wheat-growing region, precipitation arrived to meet budding […]
As part of its “Room for Debate” series, The New York Times convened a panel of experts to discuss the causes and possible solutions to currently high global food prices, in particular, whether the world is producing enough food. The panelists pointed out that some of the usual suspects from the 2007-2008 crisis are at […]
To what degree are the current protests throughout the Middle East a product of high food prices? A recent Voice of America article noted that though the major causes of the revolts in the Middle East are government oppression, corruption, unemployment, and poverty; “experts say the rising price of food was one of the sparks […]
A newly launched initiative by the World Food Programme (WFP), called WeFeedback, uses a social media platform to make it easier to feed hungry children around the globe and share your efforts with others. How does it work? WeFeedback invites the public to join a social network to fight hunger using only a few easy […]
The 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps will be marked with activities throughout 2011, but the organization has chosen food security as a signature issue around which many local anniversary activities should be organized. The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is helping members of the Peace Corps community to organize Global House Parties on […]
A recent report by Ethiopia and the United Nations said that “2.8 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid in 2011, and appealed for $227 million to fund programmes for the first six months.” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia Eugene Owusu said the 2.8-million figure tells only part of the story, according to Voice of […]
The worst drought in China in 60 years is threatening its wheat crop and leading many to worry about the potential effects on already high global food prices. According to The New York Times: “China has been essentially self-sufficient in grain for decades, for national security reasons. Any move by China to import large quantities […]
Food security is sometimes only thought of in terms of the availability of food, but the preparation of food is an important part of ensuring its safety and nutrition. The United Nations Foundation is leading an initiative called the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to draw attention to the 1.9 million deaths that occur each […]
A recent meeting of 48 farm ministers in Berlin recognized that “speculation and price swings in agricultural markets may threaten food security,” and perhaps lead to violent protests that were last seen during the previous global food crisis. In response, France, as chair of the upcoming Group of 20 meeting, will propose to regulate the […]
New food labels will be coming soon to the front of food packages in the United States, intended to provide a better warning to consumers by displaying measurements such as calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar. The food industry, however, is pushing to include two positive labels, or “nutrients to encourage,” such as fiber, potassium, […]
Due to technical difficulties, the GFS blog was offline for a short time. Now that we are up and running, we will have some new posts shortly. To get caught up, you might first read what other bloggers on the Foreign Policy Blog network have written recently about food issues: Make sure your Valentine flowers […]
African Union (AU) chair Bingu wa Mutharika announced a plan to make Africa food secure in the next five years, according to IRIN. The plan, detailed in a document entitled The African Food Basket, “Requires countries to allocate a substantial portion of their budget to agriculture, provide farming input subsidies, and make available affordable information […]
Are rising global food prices here to stay? Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute thinks so, and warns that things will only get worse in the face of climate change, increasing population, water scarcity, and soil erosion. In “The Great Food Crisis of 2011” published in Foreign Policy Magazine, Brown argued the difference between […]
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has released their “Rural Poverty Report” for 2011. Some of the major points of the report are as follows: The population of the developing world is still more rural than urban: some 3.1 billion people, or 55% of the total population, live in rural areas. At least 70% […]
Read recent posts from the Foreign Policy Blog network that also relate to food security issues. Yuppies to the Rescue from the Development Aid blog As Goes the Price of Corn from the Mexico blog Enjoy!