Agricultural Resources

U.S. Gets Another Reprieve on Use of Pesticide by Farms

Exemption Granted From Ban Set For '05 Under Pact on Ozone Layer

A Cash Crop, a Better Life

Farmers Find Profit Niche In China's Industrial Boom

Think Globally, Eat Locally

Our reliance on imports and the concentration of domestic agriculture have made the food supply vulnerable.

Free trade leaves world food in grip of global giants

Global food companies are aggravating poverty in developing countries by dominating markets, buying up seed firms and forcing down prices for staple goods including tea, coffee, milk, bananas and wheat, according to a report to be launched today.

Brazil Passes Law Allowing Crops With Modified Genes

In a victory for biotechnology companies like Monsanto, Brazil approved legislation paving the way for the legalization of genetically modified crops.

Europe Leaves Modified Corn Inquiry to U.S.

Despite abhorrence in Europe of all things genetically modified, European officials are letting the U.S. untangle how unapproved corn has entered Europe.

GMO foods can bring benefits, vigilance needed-WHO

WHO report: GM foods are safe for now A report issued today by the World Health Organization concluded, "We have no data suggesting that [genetically modified] foods on the market are not safe," but the agency said vigilance would be required to make sure future products also are formulated with safety in mind. The report also noted GM crops could help to address the food needs of undernourished populations. AlertNet.org/Reuters (6/23)

Crops fail across southern Africa

Ten million people in six southern African countries need food aid because of crop failures, the World Food Programme said. The UN food agency urged donors to send aid to "avoid widespread hunger from developing into a humanitarian disaster," noting the situation is worst in Zimbabwe and Malawi. BBC (7/7)

Scientists Breed Rice to Defy Climate Change

Scientists are developing new flood and drought-prone rice varieties to combat the threat of global warming to Asia's food staple but more work is needed, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.

Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda

Rwanda, recently rent by a famously savage civil war, has found hope in that most colonial of crops: coffee.

What will we eat as the oil runs out?

Take a look at Richard Heinberg's recent article, "What will we eat as the oil runs out?" http://www.energybulletin.net/38091.html

Our Decrepit Food Factories

The word “sustainability” has gotten such a workout lately that the whole concept is in danger of floating away on a sea of inoffensiveness.

DEVELOPMENT: Food Prices Climbing, With No End in Sight

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (IPS) - Globalisation, climate change, and the mass production of biofuels are pushing up food prices worldwide, which could jeopardise the livelihoods of the world's poorest, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Food Crisis Rippling Out Like a 'Tsunami'

"A rolling tsunami of social unrest is underway as we speak -- hungry people are desperate people capable of taking desperate actions. This tsunami is rapidly enveloping the global South, and it won't take much longer before it knocks at the door of the global North," warned Vicente Garcia-Delgado, the U.N. representative for CIVICUS, the world alliance for citizen participation.