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 […]
Maersk orders largest, most efficient ships ever is the title of the release from one of the world’s biggest marine shipping concerns. Given that 90% of the world’s international trade travels by ship, the importance of how we build, power, and even dispose of these critical components of commerce is enormous. These new ships are […]
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 […]
I’ve written many times about the “despicable practice” of mountaintop removal mining. (Al Gore called it that – and he couldn’t be more right.) There’s an op-ed in the NY Times today from one of the co-authors of a new book: Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal. Silas House remind us in “My Polluted Kentucky […]
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 […]
I took a tour today of NYU’s new trigeneration plant: It’s “tri” because it produces electricity, heat and hot water, and chilled water for air conditioning. It’s a great facility, well thought out and executed. It’s state of the art. It provides 13.4 MW of electricity and that which isn’t used by the school is […]
If you’re going to be around NYC next Tuesday night, do yourself a favor and come to this event, organized by NYU’s Center for Global Affairs (where I teach) and the state of Navarra (in Spain). It’s free and should be compelling. Register here.
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 […]
I’m a Paul Krugman devotee. (How can you not be?) His column from this past Monday, Droughts, Floods and Food, had nothing but good sense: rapidly rising food prices have mostly to do with bad weather, namely the fires and drought in Russia and Ukraine this past summer and the floods in Queensland this winter. […]
I’m an old New Yorker man from way back. I’ve noted any number of terrific New Yorker stories here, from George Packer and Ryan Lizza on the failures of the Senate on climate and energy legislation, to the authoritative Betsy Kolbert on nearly anything and everything relative to sustainability and the environment. Hendrik Hertzberg is […]
(Sorry to have been a while away from the blog, but last week was pretty busy and then we got away for some lovely skiing. Snow can be a wonderful thing. My sympathies, of course, do go out to those of you who are suffering at home, or in your travels, from the very heavy […]
(Here’s a great graphic from DOE’s Energy Information Administration that shows how we deploy energy in the US. Gas is a big factor.) I caught this comprehensive but succinct item at the NYT recently: Time to Tap the Bounty of U.S. Natural Gas. It lays out the fact of the astonishing ballooning of new, proven […]
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 […]