Double Dream Hands!

Food production a bright spot in gloomy economy

This article by Dinesh Ramde discusses the positive things that are happening in food production even in the middle of a recession. For example, there is a growth in sales and facilities in the cheese and dairy industries. Farmers are also buying 27% more equipment because construction costs have gone down. Regarding cheese makers and distributors, John Umhoefer says their expansion is simply because cheese is a recession food. The director of Michigan's Department of Agriculture says that agriculture has helped keep the state together as they struggle with the "manufacturing downturn".
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/11/15/national/a000035S61.DTL

Hunger and Food Security in the United States

In this article/blog by Amanda Bensen, she talks about the disturbing statistics of people that go hungry and are "food insecure" in the United States. Did you know that every 1 in 4 American children experience hunger on some sort of level? In 2008 14.6% of all households or 49.1 million people experienced food insecurity. It was a significant increase from previously reported data and the highest level reported since the study began in 1995. Shockingly, the number is even higher at 21% in households with children. In the article Bensen questions how this could be happening in our nation whereas our problems "pale" to the prevalence of malnourishment in developing countries. We are in quite a recession, but does that mean all of these people and mainly children, need to be going hungry in our nation?

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/11/17/hunger-and-food-security-in-the-united-states/

Vanishing topsoil will lead to food crisis Saturday, July 10, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) All the world's topsoil is set to vanish within the next century if current patterns do not change, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney and presented at the Carbon Farming conference.

"It could be as little as 60 years and that is a scary figure because it is not obvious that we have time to reverse decline and still meet future demands for food," researcher John Crawford said. "It is not an exaggeration to say that soil is the most precious resource we have got, and ... [we] are not up to the task of securing it for our children, never mind our grandchildren."

The soil-depleting effects of chronic mismanagement, including overuse of plowing, overapplication of synthetic fertilizers, poor erosion control and unsustainable farming (such as in former tropical rainforests), are being exacerbated by global warming and development. Coupled with a growing world population, this poses a recipe for food disaster.

The study found that in Australia, soil is being lost five times faster than it is regenerating through natural processes. In the United States, it is being lost 10 times faster. In Europe it is being lost 17 times faster, and in China, an astonishing 57 times faster.

In September, Sydney, Australia experienced its worst dust storm in 70 years.

According to Crawford, restoring soil requires improved management techniques such as minimizing plowing and allowing soil to lie fallow with cover crops. The United Kingdom has introduced an initiative encouraging farmers to protect soil through methods including using less fertilizer.

Yet it may take decades for these efforts to bear fruit, and the rate of soil loss may still outstrip even this accelerated renewal.

Loss of topsoil has significant implications for global food supplies and prices, which are already reeling from rising populations and changing climates. In 2008 and 2009, grain shortages and record high prices led to civil unrest in more than a dozen countries.
http://www.naturalnews.com/029176_topsoil_food_production.html
Sources for this story include: www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agricultu....

Severe Drought is felt, makes Chinese shout for water spout and plant sprout!

This article speaks upon the topic of a pivotal lack of rainfall in China which has affected more than 229 million acres of grain-producing provinces in the northern region. This terrible drought has left 1.85 million stock animals and 3.7 million people in the region without drinking water, according to the national Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. Due to this event the federal government is designating $15 million for farmer relief, and enacting an epic plan to divert billions of cubic meters of water from the Haihe, Huaihe, Yangtze and Yellow rivers to the country's north, because drastic times call for drastic measures.

http://www.naturalnews.com/025917_water_droughts_food.html

Food Security

This Article is about farmland that is being lost each year. There is about 75 millions of farmland lost each year due to industrialzation, urbanization and enviromental degradtion. Due to the amount of farmland lost it resulted in hunger lost. Land grabs are impotant because people want to be able to feed there own population.


http://food.change.org/blog/category/food_security

Slaughterhouses and Processing

In this article, the author talks about slaughterhouses and food saftety. 80% of all of the courties meat supply comes from four top companies, and since they are so large, the government can do little to keep an eye on them. Since the companies are so large, it is easier for the meat to become infected with E. Coli, Salmonella and other animal-related diseases. The author also explains the horrible conditions these slaughthouses are in and how dirty and unsafe they are for the workers. Since the slaughterhouses are so filthy, it explains how many people become sick andeven die to the contaminated meats.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/processing/