In The News

Battle Pits Cocoa Speculators Against Chocolate Makers

Hauke Goos, Ralf Hoppe May 3, 2011
In recent years, many forces influence cocoa trading prices, including attempts by speculators to corner world markets. “Speculators act as accelerants – and the smaller the market, the easier their game,” report Hauke Goos and Ralf Hoppe for Spiegel Online. Cocoa is among the smallest commodities markets, requiring only £7 billion to buy an entire year's harvest, and a few financiers can...

Seven Steps to Prevent Recurring Food Crises

Shenggen Fan April 30, 2011
Extreme weather events that disrupt harvests lead to rising food prices, hitting hard the world’s poor who spend the majority of their incomes on food. The poor often work in agriculture, but rising costs of inputs and consumer resistance against rising prices “can reduce farmers’ profit margins, distort long-term planning and dampen investment in improved productivity,” explains Shenggen Fan for...

Pacific Nations Battle Obesity Epidemic

Neil Sands April 25, 2011
As Pacific Island nations become more integrated into the global economy, an obesity epidemic has emerged. About 90 percent of Tongans, for instance, are classified as overweight or obese. Weight-related diseases are responsible for 75 percent of deaths in the Pacific Islands, notes one World Health Organization official, in an Agence France-Presse report by Neil Sands. By comparison, about 15...

Bordeaux Vineyards Acquire Taste for Chinese Buyers

Alexandra Topping April 20, 2011
As China’s economy continues to grow, wealthy Chinese develop a new taste for luxury goods from around the world, including fine wines and French vineyards. Chinese investors increasingly make inquiries about purchasing centuries-old vineyards, and a few properties have been conveyed. Investors typically retain the local staff, though some critics express fear that newcomers won’t produce high-...

Chopstick Diplomacy in Chile

Nathaniel Parish Flannery April 18, 2011
China and Chile have developed close ties since the 1990s, and in 2005 Chile became the first non-Asian country to sign a free-trade agreement with China. China is now top trade partner for both Chile and Brazil, and new Chinese restaurants opening throughout South America are just one signal of strengthening South-South ties and China’s soft power. The restaurants, prominent exemplars of Chinese...

The Indian Exception

April 12, 2011
Economic growth and malnutrition are often inversely correlated. India enjoys impressive economic growth, yet the malnutrition rate in many states remains stubbornly high, even among middle-income families. Government attempts to feed the hungry, including a “right to food,” have been unsuccessful. An essay in the Economist suggests that expansive handouts, like free meals for many schools,...

How Worried Should We Be About Radiation

Jeffrey Lewis April 11, 2011
Trace amounts of radiation from the damaged Fukushima reactors have been detected in some vegetables of Japan and milk in the US and Europe – spreading alarm about food safety among consumers. Thanks to the internet, information – and rumors – about radiation go global fast, which wasn’t the case with nuclear accidents or weapons testing only a few decades ago. The Fukushima disaster has led to...