hunger
EWG says U.S. farmers feed the (developed) world
A refrain among U.S. farmers and processors is that bountiful America helps feed a hungry world with a population forecast to increase by one-third, to 9.7 billion people, by mid-century. The actuality is that U.S. farm exports "go to countries that can afford to pay for them," and less than 1 percent go to the world's hungriest nations, says the Environmental Working Group.
More than one in seven Haitians need food aid after hurricane
Some 1.4 million people in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, require food assistance because of widespread damage by Hurricane Matthew to supplies and crops in large swaths of the country, according to a survey by UN and Haitian agencies. In Haiti's Department of Grande-Anse, "agriculture has been virtually wiped out," says the UN, and "losses of subsistence crops in the Department of Sud have been nearly total."
Trump and Clinton camps agree: Keep food stamps in the farm bill
Donald Trump will not back a popular conservative proposal to split food stamps from the rest of the farm bill, said Sam Clovis, a senior advisor to the Republican presidential nominee. Speaking for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, former deputy agriculture secretary Kathleen Merrigan said food stamps are a key element of farm bills and Clinton would oppose cuts to the premiere U.S. anti-hunger program.
Dual challenge for agriculture: Fight climate change while adapting to it
Farmers, foresters, fishers and graziers generate one-fifth of the world's greenhouse gases, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in its annual State of Food and Agriculture report. FAO says the chief message of the 2016 edition is, "Agriculture must both contribute more to combating climate change while bracing to overcome its impacts."
USDA asks retailers to volunteer for test of food stamps online
It's not in the same class as the famous poster of Uncle Sam sternly declaring, "I want you for the U.S. Army." But the government is asking retailers to volunteer for a two-year, nationwide trial of online grocery sales for food-stamp recipients.
Millions at risk of starvation in northeastern Nigeria
A UN official working on humanitarian aid in Africa warns of "a famine unlike any we have seen anywhere" in northeastern Nigeria unless aid is provided immediately, says the Washington Post. "The staggering hunger crisis created by (Boko Haram) insurgents has been largely hidden from view."
Study: U.S. teens trading sex for food
A new study by the Urban Institute, a D.C.-based think tank, found that kids in poor communities across the country are hungry enough to trade sex, sell drugs, and join gangs for food, reports The Guardian.
Southern Africa drought hits Zambia, pushing up food prices
Despite forecasts of bountiful harvests and a global grain glut, lower harvests of corn, wheat and sugarcane as a result of severe weather in southern Africa are pushing up prices for Zambia's staple foods, Reuters reports.
U.S. sees lowest food insecurity rate in eight years
Fewer Americans are skipping meals or running short of money to buy food than any time since the 2008-09 recession, says the annual USDA report on food insecurity. Some 13.3 percent of Americans, or more than one in eight people, were food insecure in 2015, the lowest rate in eight years, while child food insecurity, at 9.4 percent, was the lowest in nearly two decades of recordkeeping.
When Wal-Mart bypasses towns, rural America gets creative
Too small to support a big box supermarket, some rural towns are turning to alternative grocery store models to feed their populations, says High Country News. In Walsh, Colo., (pop. 600), townspeople invested in $50 shares to jumpstart a grocery store.
Purdue opens first field phenotyping facility in North America
Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University, says the school's newly dedicated Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center "will play a big part" in helping to assure enough food for the rising world population. The center is the first field phenotyping facility in North America.
Obama bolsters his foreign-aid legacy with Global Food Security Act
President Obama signed the bipartisan Global Food Security Act of 2016 yesterday, steering $7 billion toward agricultural development and hunger-relief efforts around the world, and ensuring that both public and private operations would continue to work together to fund these efforts in Africa and other food-insecure regions.
University of California pledges millions to stop malnutrition on campus
“Four in 10 University of California students do not have a consistent source of high-quality, nutritious food,” says the Los Angeles Times, citing a recent survey of the state’s public university system. Of the 9,000 student respondents, 19 percent said they occasionally went hungry, while another 23 percent said they had enough money to eat, but didn’t always have access to high-quality, nutrient-dense foods.
Congress passes global food-security bill
The House gave final congressional approval, 359-53, to a bill that calls for a comprehensive U.S. strategy to reduce hunger and malnutrition in developing nations. President Obama praised passage of the bill, which makes permanent the Feed the Future program, an early initiative of his administration.
FAO: farmed surpasses wild-caught in terms of fish available for human consumption
Global per-capita fish consumption surged beyond 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in 2014, thanks to the booming aquaculture industry in China and elsewhere, according to a report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture organization.
Report: World won’t meet goal of ending hunger by 2030
The world nearly met its goal of halving hunger by 2015, but will miss its ambitious new goal of eradicating hunger by 2030 without decisive action to raise incomes, expand food production and alleviate income inequality, says a joint report of the OECD and FAO. The new edition of their Agricultural Outlook says the number of undernourished people in the world will drop to 636 million in 2025, compared to 799 million now.
World Food Prize goes to four leaders in biofortification of crops
The $250,000 World Food Prize, sometimes called the Nobel of agriculture, was awarded to four scientists for development and promotion of biofortified crops, bred to include vitamins and micronutrients. An estimated 10 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America already have better diets due to the improved staple crops, "with a potential of several hundred million more in the coming decades," said the prize foundation.
For the poor, food banks may be best hope for diabetes care
As obesity becomes increasingly common in the U.S., food banks are trying to help their visitors manage diabetes as well as hunger, says The New York Times. Historically, food banks tried to satiate hunger with whatever food they could, even if it meant doling out chips and cans of sugary barbecue beans. But many of the people looking for food aid now suffer from poor nutrition and dangerous blood sugar levels, rather than too few calories.