In The News

Chinese Checkers

Nayan Chanda July 7, 2008
Producer and consumer countries can’t expect to escape unscathed if economic problems strike one or the other as a maze of complicated challenges confront the global economy: The subprime mortgage crisis battered global banks; businesses have trouble finding credit; consumer spending has slowed; and energy prices are on the rise. Giant sovereign wealth funds based in Asia and the Middle East came...

Food Prices Threatened by Silence of the Bees

Tom Leonard July 4, 2008
The United States is the world’s biggest food exporter, but declining bee populations could make farming more difficult. Bees are responsible for pollinating one third of the crops grown in the US, and reduced bee populations will shrink the variety and size of crops, thus adding to rising food prices. Food prices have already almost doubled during the past three years, reports the World Bank....

Nestlé Asks EU to Soften Line on GM

Raphael Minder June 30, 2008
The European Union sets trends in trade, agriculture and culture, and so the decision to reject genetically modified food for its markets carries influence beyond European borders. For example, African nations produce crops for export to Europe, and most African countries do not want to risk including genetically modified organisms in their harvests, for fear of being excluded from the lucrative...

Globalization Exposes Food Supply to Unsanitary Practices

June 13, 2008
Countries that import food must check on producers’ sanitary standards, warn scientists attending an American Society for Microbiology meeting, reported on by Science Centric. Lower wages in developing nations and specialized growing environments contribute to the trends in food trade. The US imports more food than it exports, the article reports, and about 15 percent of food consumed in the US...

Grubs Up! Scientists Keen to Get Us Eating Bugs

Geoffrey Lean June 6, 2008
As food shortages emerge in some nations and prices climb, scientists offer a solution – eating insects, plentiful and diverse. Insects, with ample protein and nutrients, are on the menu for more than 100 countries of the world, reports Geoffrey Lean for the Independent. With their vegetarian diets, insects are a healthy choice for humans; bountiful in nature, insects are also healthy for the...

Supply Chinks

Nayan Chanda June 3, 2008
Even though the global supply chain has grown tremendously, the quality of products produced in other parts of the world has diminished. In fact, labels have become more misleading. A label stating that the product is “Made in China” is not necessarily true. According to Nayan Chanda, it is actually "made in the world." And the origin of some products or ingredients is never truly...

Ethiopia Puts Logo on Its Hottest Export

Aaron O. Patrick May 21, 2008
Legend has it that centuries ago a young Ethiopian shepherd first discovered the taste and energy-boosting powers associated with the coffee plant. Globalization was not a word then, but the drink made from the plant’s beans quickly gained popularity the world over. The government of Ethiopia – setting out to highlight the special quality of its coffee and pursue licensing agreements with...