food production

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Saving Nature Will Require a Societal 'Transformation'

World Wildlife Fund calls for revamping food, energy, finance systems amid wildlife destruction

(Newser) - Enough is enough, says the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report , released Wednesday, calling on governments and companies to "act rapidly to eliminate activities with negative impacts on biodiversity and climate" before it's too late. The report describes a 73% decline in the average size of monitored...

Unusual Sight in European Cities: Throngs of Tractors

Farmers protest EU environmental regulations, claiming the rules put food production at risk

(Newser) - The rice used in Spanish paella, the country's national dish, is at risk of disappearing, growers warn, amid widespread protests against European Union environmental regulations, including the banning of a fungicide. Tricyclazole was used to fight fungus appearing on bomba rice grown in Spain's wetlands for 40 years,...

'One-of-a-Kind' Ex-Mayor Killed After Guac Maker Explodes

Blast during test run of 'high-pressure vessel' kills Joseph Kapp, 67, former mayor of Rensselaer, NY

(Newser) - A food processing machine that was being tested for preparing guacamole exploded this week at an upstate New York test site, killing a former mayor and injuring two others, per NBC New York . The blast happened just after 7am Wednesday at Innovative Test Solutions in Schenectady, with Don Mareno, the...

As Meat Plants Shut Down, an Ominous Warning

Food supply chain is 'breaking' amid pandemic, says John Tyson, chair for Tyson Foods

(Newser) - Smithfield Foods and JBS have closed meat-processing sites , while Tyson Foods shut down pork plants in Iowa and Indiana last week after they were found to be hot spots for coronavirus outbreaks. Now Tyson is issuing a dire warning on the state of the industry as a result of the...

Group: Video Reveals Inhumane Treatment of Pigs

'This plant is the symbol of everything that is wrong with the meat industry'

(Newser) - "If the USDA is around, they could shut us down," a worker at one of the largest pork producers in the country can be heard saying in an undercover video released this week. The Washington Post reports the video was filmed by someone working for the animal rights...

Lab Debuts $330K 'Frankenburger'

 Lab Debuts $330K 
 'Frankenburger' 
in case you missed it
Aug 3, 2013 7:50 AM CDT

Lab Debuts $330K 'Frankenburger'

First synthetic burger almost ready to serve

(Newser) - After years of research into lab-grown meat, it's finally patty time. A burger made of synthetic beef will be cooked and served before an audience at one of London's finest restaurants next week, reports the Independent . The "Frankenburger"—which cost $330,000 to develop—is made...

Candy Makers Fight Sugar-Protection Bill

Bitter battle over sweets pits agriculture against sweets manufacturers

(Newser) - It's sugar versus sugar on Capitol Hill, as growers are facing off against candy makers over the United States' longstanding import restrictions that keep sugar prices high, reports the Los Angeles Times . Both sides are spending millions of dollars lobbying over the latest farm bill now before Congress—the...

Healthy Eaters Go 'Kosher' Despite Evidence

Orthodox Jewish food label gaining in popularity

(Newser) - Love seeing that "kosher" food label when you go shopping? You're not alone: More than 25% of all new foods released since 2007 claim to be kosher, a 10-fold increase over kosher products released in 2002, NPR reports. The market has expanded from orthodox Jews to, well, everyone...

On the Menu Soon: Petri Dish Hamburger

Dutch scientist says $330K burger ready by October

(Newser) - Get ready for the first lab-grown hamburger—on the menu for just $330,000. Dutch scientist Mark Post has announced that he intends to have a burger made entirely from lab-grown meat and animal fat ready for eating by October—cooked by three-star chef Heston Blumenthal, and served to a...

7B People Isn't as Terrifying as It Sounds

Food production has soared alongside population: David Lam

(Newser) - Halloween may seem the perfect day for the world population to reach 7 billion —after all, it’s a terrifying milestone, right? Wrong, writes economist David Lam, president of the Population Association of America, in the Los Angeles Times . “The parents of the 7-billionth person should not be...

Global Warming Withers World's Food Supply

Crop damage by bad weather already hurting food production

(Newser) - The Green Revolution that saw farm production soar after the 1940s has come to an end, and with population pressures now surging ahead of food production and increasing damage caused by global warming, humanity is in danger of major new food shortages, reports the New York Times in a lengthy...

Food Prices Will Double by 2030: Oxfam

Climate change, biofuels partially to blame

(Newser) - The cost of food staples is set to more than double over the next two decades, Oxfam says, as we enter a “permanent food crisis." World hunger had steadily decreased for decades, the Guardian reports, but with demand exceeding production, the numbers of hungry people are once again...

Eric Schlosser: Critics of Foodies Who Call Them Elitist Have Things Backward
 Foodies Are Not 'Elitist'  
eric schlosser
Apr 30, 2011 11:09 AM CDT

Foodies Are Not 'Elitist'

It's their industrial critics who are guilty of that: Eric Schlosser

(Newser) - Industrial agriculture honchos like to brand foodies pushing for healthier practices as elitist, but they've got things exactly backward, writes Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser in the Washington Post . "America’s current system of food production—overly centralized and industrialized, overly controlled by a handful of companies,...

Locavores, Tone Down the Self-Righteousness
Locavores, Tone Down the Self-Righteousness
opinion
Aug 20, 2010 5:58 PM CDT

Locavores, Tone Down the Self-Righteousness

Movement is devolving into 'self-indulgent' dogma

(Newser) - Don't get him wrong, Stephen Budiansky likes fresh local veggies as much as the next guy, but he's had it up to here with zealous locavores. "The local food movement now threatens to devolve into another one of those self-indulgent—and self-defeating—do-gooder dogmas," he writes in the...

Economic 'Mismatches' Mean Food Crisis Is Here to Stay

(Newser) - The various sectors of the global economy have become so entwined with food production that prices are acting in a very “puzzling” manner, the Economist reports. Last year, the market responded rationally to the global food crisis of 2007-08, increasing production and thus lowering prices. But with another bumper...

Food, Inc. Feeds the Brain
  Food, Inc. Feeds the Brain 
MOVIE REVIEW
Jun 12, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

Food, Inc. Feeds the Brain

Documentary explores US food production

(Newser) - Food, Inc., which opens today in limited release, is a super documentary that's good for you—unlike the profit-driven food-production practices it exposes. Director Robert Kenner highlights and expands on work by authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation).
  • David Edelstein, New York: "The
...

Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt
 Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt 
Sep 30, 2008 1:21 PM CDT

Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt

Meat a big climate change contributor, study finds

(Newser) - To avoid catastrophic global warming, people need to cut way down on their meat and dairy consumption, a new report on climate change says. Four modest servings of meat and about a quart of milk a week are all we should be consuming, the Guardian reports. And the report urges...

Producers Quick to Pass Price Hikes Down Food Chain

Pricier grain, energy make everything more expensive, from cereal to meat

(Newser) - Soaring grain and energy costs are driving food prices skyward, and big producers are moving to pass price hikes down the food chain to consumers on everything from cereal to meat, the Wall Street Journal reports. And costs won’t likely decrease, with biofuel demand eating up more corn than...

Rising Food Allergies Drive a Swelling Specialty Market

'Free-from' foods will bring in $3.9B this year

(Newser) - As the number of people with allergies soars, so does the “free-from” food market—that is, foods that avoid common allergens like peanuts, the Washington Post reports. Specialty foods are expected to bring in $3.9 billion this year, a study says, while gluten-free products will likely bank some...

Food vs. Fuel Battle Flares at UN Summit

Egypt's Mubarak asks, should we be feeding people or cars?

(Newser) - The battle over biofuels is raging at the UN’s food summit in Rome, with nations bitterly divided over whether growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol production is pushing food prices up and helping create disastrous global food shortages. On one side: Food experts who call diversion of crops...

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