The Kenya Food Security Steering Group – a consortium of Kenyan government officials, UN agencies, foreign aid officials, and NGOs – stated in a new report that the food security of 2.5 million Kenyans is threatened by an extended drought period in certain parts of the country. There are also more than 7 million Kenyans […]
The United Kingdom government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, John Beddington, predicted that the year 2030 will witness a “perfect storm of food, energy and water shortages” across the globe. Speaking at the Sustainable Development UK 09 conference in London, Beddington cited a growing global population as the driving factor behind the anticipated shortages. Beddington predicts that […]
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met for a two-day summit in Nigeria to review the impact of the food crisis in the region, especially over the last year, and devise a plan for countering the crisis ahead of the new farming season. ECOWAS principle programme officer Dr. Ernest Aubee said after the […]
President Barack Obama used his weekly address from the Whitehouse to call attention to food safety in the United States. “…[I]n recent years, we’ve seen a number of problems with the food making its way to our kitchen tables…Part of the reason is that many of the laws and regulations governing food safety in America […]
“Country Of Origin Labeling” (COOL) goes into effect today, expanding a labeling program from the 2002 Farm Bill, in response to concerns about contaminated food being imported into the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, consumer groups and some farmers pushed for the adoption of the new rules, which for now are voluntary: “I […]
President Obama met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the first time on Tuesday, talking at length about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the war in Afghanistan, the aftermath of Hurricanes in Haiti – and the ongoing shortages in global food supply, as reported in this Boston Globe article. Following the meeting, President Obama remarked […]
On February 28, 2009, China upgraded its 1995 food hygiene law by passing a new law creating a food safety commission which can increase compensation to those harmed by tainted food or impose severe penalties on those involved with producing and promoting tainted food products. The new law is intended to improve China’s food safety […]
One suggestion for combating future global food crises is to launch a new Green Revolution. The first Green Revolution took place in the mid-20th Century, and was a campaign that encouraged farmers, particularly in the developing world, to increase the success of their crops by using better seeds and farming methods. The Green Revolution succeeded […]
Lobby groups representing the ethanol industry appealed to the Obama administration on Friday to put more federal funding into supporting the industry and to increase the amount of ethanol allowed in gasoline blends to 15%. Currently, the limit stands at 10%. According to this New York Times article, the ethanol industry is flagging amid the downturn in […]
Recent food safety scares in the U.S. have sparked an investigation by The New York Times* into an over-reliance on private (or third-party) food inspectors to certify the safety of food processing plants. In some cases, as in the Peanut Corporation of America scandal, the inspectors were hired by the companies being inspected, leading to […]
Countries hit heavily by food shortages often rely greatly on foreign food aid to prevent starvation. The United States is the leading donor in food aid worldwide, but its food aid policies have come under heavy criticism by analysts. Often this criticism comes as a result of the practice of “dumping,” as described in […]
At the World Affairs Councils of America’s (WACA) Annual Meeting in February, Charles MacCormack , president and CEO of Save the Children, spoke about how the 2008 Global Food Crisis has impacted the UN Millennium Development Goal (MGD) for fighting global hunger. Watch the video of his remarks at the conference and hear him address […]
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