In The News

Climate Change Threatens Global Rice

October 21, 2010
The high-yield IR8, so-called Miracle Rice, was developed in the 1960s and saved millions in Asia from starvation. But now, climate change seems to be reducing yields. According to research by Shaobing Peng in the current edition of the journal Field Crop Research, yields have fallen by 15 percent, primarily due to hotter nights, and also air pollution and changes in soil properties from...

The Food Crisis

Martin Walker September 10, 2010
The world’s food supply is based on limited natural resources. Any disruptions in water supplies or weather patterns – exacerbated by growing populations and increased development of land – can quickly lead to food shortages, high prices and unrest. Martin Walker, writing for UPI.com, predicts “pressure on food supplies for decades to come.” Climate change and a fast-mutating fungus Ug99 that...

Speculators Rediscover Agricultural Commodities

Susanne Amann, Alexander Jung August 11, 2010
The strategy is as ancient as trade: A speculator corners the market of a choice product, reduces supply and then profits on climbing prices. The best source for profits is indispensable products – like energy, housing or food. A London hedge fund now controls about 7 percent of the world’s cocoa production, bringing cocoa prices to 33-year high, reports Spiegel Online. “The turbulence in the...

Scientists Say Gulf Spill Altering Food Web

Matthew Brown, Ramit Plushnick-Masti July 23, 2010
Some plants and animals can withstand abrupt changes in their environment, and scientists predict long-term, even permanent changes in some habitats of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill forces life forms to contend with more chemicals along with less sunlight and oxygen. All life depends on other life to live – disruptions in food chains and habitat can wipe out food sources for some species or...

Tuna's End

Paul Greenberg July 15, 2010
The decline in fish stocks beneath the ocean’s surface is not readily apparent. Paul Greenberg describes the Atlantic bluefin’s beauty, power and rapid decline in this New York Times article. “Overzealous globalization,” suggests one expert, contributed to a transformation of tuna sushi – from local, seasonable delicacy to unsustainable mass craving. Today, Japan eats 80 percent of the world...

Population Explosion Scrutinized

Steve Connor July 14, 2010
Researchers increasingly link population with global problems like climate change and declining resources as basic as fresh water, and the UK national academy of science will launch a study on what others regard as an overused term and needless concern. Fertility rates in most nations are falling, but the planet’s population is estimated to grow from 6.8 billion to more than 9 billion by 2050 –...

Influence Industry: US Honey Industry Asks FDA for National Purity Standard

Dan Eggen July 9, 2010
Competition with Chinese imports unnerves the maker of any product. The US honey industry, already suffering from a declining bee population, seeks government help in preventing honey laundering or counterfeiting. The US honey industry accuses some Chinese makers of diluting products or transporting goods to third countries to avoid anti-dumping duties, reports Dan Eggen for the Washington Post....