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Green shoots
The Economist
AT A time when much of the global economy is falling apart and demand both for consumer goods and the firms that make and finance them is collapsing, the notoriously cyclical world of agriculture is holding up remarkably well. Prices for grains and meat are down from the peaks of mid-2008, but are 30-50% above their averages over the past decade. There is reason to believe that this strength is more than just another of the many bubbles that have recently inflated, only to pop.
Higher prices are hardly a universal blessing: they are good for farmers, many of whom are poor, but bad for consumers. Some of the increase can be blamed on the shift of crops from food to fuel, prompted by wildly inefficient subsidies. But high prices are also a sign of progress because their single largest cause is the steady increase in demand from poorer countries, as people there eat more food—especially more protein. More people are better nourished thanks to a bit more grain, a lot more meat, and much more milk.
China’s role has been profound, reflecting its enormous economic progress and huge population. In the past decade, says Carlo Caiani of Caiani & Company, an investment-advisory firm based in Melbourne, the consumption of milk has grown seven-fold, and that of olive oil six-fold. China is consuming twice as much vegetable oil (instead of less healthy pork fat), 60% more poultry, 30% more beef and 25% more wheat, and these are merely the obvious foods. Scores of niches have expanded dramatically: people are drinking four times as much wine, for example…
(19 March 2009)
‘Food hub’ plan to boost local producers
Craig Robinson, East Anglian Daily Times (UK)
INNOVATIVE plans have been unveiled to bring together Suffolk’s network of food producers and independent businesses to help them beat the recession.
The “Suffolk food hub” hopes to boost “grass roots” trade between the county’s businesses and get local food into shops, pubs and restaurants.
It will ensure there is awareness and support among the farmers, food firms and small shops involved, so they can join forces in the face of increasingly tough competition.
The idea is the brainchild of Suffolk County Council and Choose Suffolk – formerly the Suffolk Development Agency.
It is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country and those behind the plan are hoping other counties will follow suit…
(23 March 2009)
Cat Got Your Fish?
Paul Greenberg, New York Times
… [My late cat] Coco, like most American cats, ate fish. And a great deal of them — more in a year than the average African human, according to Jason Clay at the World Wildlife Fund. And unlike the chicken or beef Coco also gobbled up, all those fish were wild animals, scooped out of the sea and flown thousands of carbon-belching miles to reach his little blue bowl.
The use of wild fish in animal feed is a serious problem for the world’s food systems. Around a third of all wild fish caught are “reduced” into fish meal and fish oil. And yet most of the outrage about this is focused not on land-based animals like Coco but on other fish — namely farm-raised fish.
Paul Greenberg is the author of a forthcoming book on the future of fish.
(21 March 2009)
Study Finds Eating Red Meat Contributes to Risk of Early Death
Rob Stein, Washington Post
Eating red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely, according to a large federal study that offers powerful new evidence that a diet that regularly includes steaks, burgers and pork chops is hazardous to your health.
The study of more than 500,000 middle-age and elderly Americans found that those who consumed the equivalent of about a small hamburger every day were more than 30 percent more likely to die during the 10 years they were followed, mostly from heart disease and cancer. Sausage, cold cuts and other processed meats also increased the risk.
(23 March 2009)
Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?
Andrew Martin, New York Times
AS tens of thousands of people recently strolled among booths of the nation’s largest organic and natural foods show here, munching on fair-trade chocolate and sipping organic wine, a few dozen pioneers of the industry sneaked off to an out-of-the-way conference room.
Although unit sales of organic food have leveled off and even declined lately, versus a year earlier, the mood among those crowded into the conference room was upbeat as they awaited a private screening of a documentary called “Food Inc.” — a withering critique of agribusiness and industrially produced food.
They also gathered to relish their changing political fortunes, courtesy of the Obama administration.
“This has never been just about business,” said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, the maker of organic yogurt. “We are here to change the world. We dreamt for decades of having this moment.”
After being largely ignored for years by Washington, advocates of organic and locally grown food have found a receptive ear in the White House, which has vowed to encourage a more nutritious and sustainable food supply.
(21 March 2009)
Food, class, and the new, new agrarianism
Tom Philpott, Gristmill
Using food as a tool of development, not extraction
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… If we accept our food system as it is, then Childs makes perfect sense. We need an industrialized food system to churn out food that people can afford; the best we can do is nudge the industry to make health and sustainability a bit more of a priority.
From what I can see, the only real way to challenge that logic is to challenge the food system as a whole. Right now, we have an extractive food system — one that extracts wealth from communities and moves it up the commodity chain to corporate shareholders. We need to create a food system that builds wealth within communities — and thus broadens access to fresh, local, and organic food.
What do I mean by extractive? Look at a typical low-income urban neighborhood. In most areas, there’s little space for food production, and people generally buy their food at stores owned by folks outside the neighborhood — fast-food outlets, corner stores, eateries, and (when they exist) large supermarkets.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: even in the lowest-income neighborhoods, people spend about $1000 per head annually on food. In a neighborhood of, say, 10,000 people, food expenditures represent a cool $10 million per year.
Now, where does that money go? In our typical urban neighborhood, it mainly flows to the owners of those fast-food outlets, corner stores, eateries, or large supermarkets — i.e., mainly to distant shareholders.
And what does the community get in return? Well, food — but generally food that appears to be contributing to a host of diet-related maladies such as diabetes and heart disease.
And there’s jobs, but they tend to be low-paid and deskilled. Few industries have seen more relentless pressure on unions than supermarkets since Wal-Mart entered the grocery fray a little more than a decade ago.
(23 March 2009)
Cool Cuisine and Fresh Food (audio)
Crop To Cuisine via Global Public Media
In this episode of Crop To Cuisine we take a look at two authors who come to the forefront of sustainability and food from unlikely backgrounds. Eugene Cordero is a professor of Meteorology and has joined forces with Laura Stec to write Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite out of Global Warming. And R.J. Ruppenthal is a professor of law. His new publication, Fresh Food From Small Spaces, is a handbook for people living in urban areas that want to live sustainably through food.
We speak with both about their passion for food, the role of innovation in a greener world and having fun with all of it. For more information about our guests, additional resources on local food and agriculture, or some great recipes, visit www.croptocuisine.org. I’d like to know how you experience your food. Aired on March 16, 2009.
(23 March 2009)
