FOOD
Top Grocery Stores: We Won’t Sell Genetically Engineered Seafood
WASHINGTON - March 20 - A coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups today launched the “Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood” by announcing that several major grocery retailers representing more than 2,000 stores across the United States have already committed not to sell genetically engineered seafood if it is allowed onto the market. The growing market rejection of GE fish comes as the FDA conducts its final review of a genetically engineered salmon. If approved, the salmon would be the first-ever genetically engineered animal allowed to enter the human food supply. Stores that have committed to not offer the salmon or other genetically engineered seafood include the national retailers Trader Joe’s (367 stores), Aldi (1,230 stores), Whole Foods (325 stores in US); regional chains such as Marsh Supermarkets (93 stores in Indiana and Ohio), PCC Natural Markets (9 stores in Washington State); and co-ops in Minnesota, New York, California and Kansas.US drought, weak monsoon, boost to lentil growers
US growers of chickpeas and lentils are sat pretty having largely escaped the drought which has devastated Midwest agriculture, and are reaping a benefit from the weak Indian monsoon too. Pulse farmers in the northern US and Canada whose crops last year were hurt by unusually extreme spring flooding have "potential for significant gains in production when compared to the 2011 harvest", legumes merchant Alliance Grain Traders said. The experience contrasts with farmers in the main US corn and soybean districts, whose hopes have been dashed by the worst drought since 1956, and the hottest July on record. However, "North American pulses production has been advancing normally, with more regions reporting good-to-excellent growing conditions through the second quarter period and into harvest", Alliance Grain Traders said.
Food prices soar, as corn stages fresh rally
Food prices rose last month at their fastest pace since 2009, led by the strongest rise in cereal values in more than four years, the United Nations said – as futures signalled further increases on their way. The price of food rose 6.2%, adjusted for background inflation, in July, the strongest pace of increase since November 2009, as values were recovering from world recession, the UN food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, said. The "sharp rebound", which came despite "little change" in prices of dairy or meat products, was "mostly driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices", the FAO said. Sugar values rose by 11.7% on the month in real terms, their fastest pace in a year, a rally "triggered by untimely rains in Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter, which hampered sugarcane harvesting.
Carnivore.GOV
Tell the USDA to Get the Slime Out! In the past month, the American public has finally learned that for the past decade more than 70% of the hamburgers they eat contain a mysterious meat mixture called Pink Slime. Incredibly, USDA scientists originally called it “pink slime” and won’t eat it themselves.
Tell the USDA to Get the Slime Out!
House Republicans have passed their budget that includes slashing food stamps in an effort to save billions in cuts to the Pentagon. House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan. House Republicans have started rolling out their austerity plan including massive cuts to the food stamp program. (AP Photo/J.
GOP Unveils Plan to Gut Food Stamp Program
Synthetic Negative-Carbon Gasoline Replacement is from California | CleanTechnica
This last year has seen a lot of attention for biofuels ( both positive and negative ). One company that managed to miss most of the attention was the startup Cool Planet Biofuels, but given its most recent announcement, it may start getting their time in the spotlight. Cool Planet Biofuels announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved tests of its new product, gasoline that it claims is “ negative carbon .”FOOD &/or fuel
A few years ago, the world faced new price highs for a number of food commodities. Generally, increasing biofuel production was blamed responsible for those highs. Although it was proven several times that the growing energy crop production did not and still does not affect food prices , the myth still remains for some reason. It is to say that the production of energy crops around the world does not shorten food supply. In fact, the global food crop production exceeds the required amount to feed everyone.
The Food vs. Fuel Controversy | InnovativeIndustry.net
Thank you for your generous support of Feeding America. Your help has touched many lives. Together we have helped supply nutritious food from our network of member food banks to 37 million people, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. We created this video so you can see for yourself the people who are impacted by and thankful for your support. Enjoy the video and thank you for helping us strive toward our vision of a hunger-free America.
Feeding America: We are Thankful for You
A grain elevator in Illinois. In 2009, 107m tonnes of grain was grown by US farmers to be blended with petrol. Photograph: AP Photo/Monty Davis One-quarter of all the maize and other grain crops grown in the US now ends up as biofuel in cars rather than being used to feed people, according to new analysis which suggests that the biofuel revolution launched by former President George Bush in 2007 is impacting on world food supplies. The 2009 figures from the US Department of Agriculture shows ethanol production rising to record levels driven by farm subsidies and laws which require vehicles to use increasing amounts of biofuels .
One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars - not people, new figures show | Environment
Another Inconvenient Truth: Biofuels are not the answer to climate or fuel crisis
“Biofuel policies are actually helping to accelerate climate change and deepen poverty and hunger” Rob Bailey Oxfam’s biofuel policy adviser Published: 26 June 2008 Today’s biofuel policies are not solving the climate or fuel crises but are instead contributing to food insecurity and inflation. In today’s report “Another Inconvenient Truth” , Oxfam calculates that rich country biofuel policies have dragged more than 30 million people into poverty, according to evidence that biofuels have already contributed up to 30% to the global rise in food prices.Food vs. fuel is the dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production in detriment of the food supply on a global scale. The "food vs. fuel" or "food or fuel" debate is international in scope, with valid arguments on all sides of the issue. There is disagreement about how significant the issue is, what is causing it, and what can or should be done about it. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
Food vs. fuel
“It’s 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel,” said the lead author of a paper that looked at 17 years worth of data to help settle the food versus fuel debate. [social_buttons] “The ideal is to grow corn for food,” said Ilya Gelfand , a Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher, “then leave the leftover stalks and leaves on the field for soil conservation and produce cellulosic ethanol with the other half.” “It comes down to what’s the most efficient use of the land,” said Phil Robertson, University Distinguished Professor of crop and soil sciences and one of the paper’s authors. “Given finite land resources, will it be more efficient to use productive farmland for food or fuel?
Productive Farmland Should Grow Food not Fuel
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade laws designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. [ 1 ] More simply, to ensure that British landowners reaped all the financial profits from farming, the corn laws (which imposed steep import duties) made it too expensive for anyone to import grain from other countries, even when the people of Great Britain and Ireland needed the food (as in times of famine). The laws were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 (55 Geo. 3 c. 26) and repealed by the Importation Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 22). These laws are often considered as examples of British mercantilism . [ 2 ] The economic issue, in essence, was food prices; the price of grain was central to the price of the most important food staple, bread, and the working man spent much of his wages on bread.Supreme Court decision to not hear carbofuran petition leaves growers with fewer pesticide options | Government content from Delta Farm Press
Advertisement <div><a href="//ad.doubleclick.net/N3834/jump/deltafarm.home/government;pos=180_1;ptype=article;page=/government/supreme-court-decision-not-hear-carbofuran-petition-leaves-growers-fewer-pesticide-option;sz=180x150;tile=1;ord=123456789?" target="_blank"><img src="//ad.doubleclick.net/N3834/ad/deltafarm.home/government;pos=180_1;ptype=article;page=/government/supreme-court-decision-not-hear-carbofuran-petition-leaves-growers-fewer-pesticide-option;sz=180x150;tile=1;ord=123456789?" border="0" alt="" /></a></div>Targets to export 100,000 tons of ‘Japonica’ to Japan. Japonica gave 100 per cent more output per acre compared to basmati and non-basmati varieties cultivated in the country. PHOTO: FILE Talking to the media at his office here on Friday, TDAP Chief Executive Tariq Iqbal Puri said Pakistan undertook the project of cultivating Japonica following a visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Japan in February this year when Japanese buyers highlighted the importance of this variety. He said TDAP provided technical assistance to rice exporters in cultivating Japonica and now a prominent rice exporter Metco had started producing the variety.