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... led by professor matthias zessner from the tu vienna, the research team argued that a low meat diet has substantial ecological advantages, whilst finding that switching to organic food is less effective than eating more vegetables and less meat ... “this would not only lower cancer rates and reduce the number of cardiovascular diseases, the area required for the production of food would be reduced from 3600 square meters to 2600 square meters per person,” said zessner ... the researchers suggested that making the switch would also reduce energy consumption in food production, whilst considerably less fertilizer would be needed ... “our carbon dioxide emissions would decrease as well – a well-balanced diet would save a third of co2 and other greenhouse gases in food production,” they suggested ... “however, eating organic food has less far-reaching consequences,” they argued ... whilst organic food production needs less fertilizer, the lower rates of production intensity mean that even larger areas of farmland are needed, they said ... switching to organic food production would therefore even exacerbate the problem of limited cultivable land, increasing the dependence on food imports, they argued

... high and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of this year and into 2012 according to the latest analysis published today in fao's biannual food outlook ... "the general situation for agricultural crops and food commodities is tight with world prices at stubbornly high levels, posing a threat to many low-income food deficit countries," according to david hallam, director of fao's markets and trade division ... slight drop in may food pricesinternational food prices, which earlier this year soared to levels seen in the 2007-8 food crisis, dropped a modest one percent in may ... the fao food price index averaged 232 points in may from a revised estimate of 235 points in april but was still 37 percent above may 2010 ... food import billin international food trade, the global food import bill is expected to reach a new record of $1 ... low-income food deficit countries (lifdcs) and least developed countries (ldcs) would be hardest-hit since they would likely have to spend respectively 27 and 30 percent more on food imports than last year ... much has been done to improve market transparency but more is needed according to guest experts contributing to a special feature in food outlook

... potentially catastrophic climate impacts on food production over the long-term 31-03-2011 food security merits greater space in the climate change agenda "slow-onset" climate changes are likely to seriously compromise agricultural ecosystems in the second half of the 21st century ... 31 march 2011, rome - "potentially catastrophic" impacts on food production from slow-onset climate changes are expected to increasingly hit the developing world in the future and action is needed now to prepare for those anticipated impacts, fao warned today in a submission to the united nations framework convention on climate change ... "but 'slow-onset' impacts are expected to bring deeper changes that challenge the ecosystem services needed for agriculture, with potentially disastrous impacts on food security during the period from 2050 to 2100 ... "in its submission, fao outlines steps that governments could consider in climate change negotiations to ensure that food security is not threatened ... food insecurity as an indicator of vulnerability to climate changefao recommends that food security be used as an indicator of vulnerability to climate change ... poor people in countries that depend on food imports are particularly vulnerable to such effects ... "if we're looking to assess vulnerability to climate change, it makes very good sense to look at food security as one important indicator," said müller ... managing the long-term risks of climate change is importantfao suggests that within the global adaptation architecture greater space be given to the risks linked to slow-onset impacts of climate change, particularly food security risks ... one key measure highlighted in the fao submission is the need to develop staple food varieties that are better adapted to expected future climatic conditions ... additional plant genetic resources -- including those from wild relatives of food crops - must be collected and studied because of the risk that they may disappear

... exporters to the us and domestic importers can expect much closer scrutiny of their food safety controls, following the signing of the food safety modernization act by president barack obama in january ... the act, which was inspired by various serious internal food safety breaches in the us over recent years such as the salmonella incident at the peanut corporation of america, is the most significant piece of us food safety legislation for 70 years ... michael taylor, deputy commissioner for foods at the food and drug administration (fda), told the global food safety conference in london recently that it represented “ really sweeping food safety reform regulation ”, in moving to a risk-based approach to inspection ... “the critical issue is to ensure importers ensure their suppliers have the systems in place to ensure safe food ... ” years behind europe stefano crea, food sector manager for certification body det norske veritas (dnv), said: “ the only thing which is pretty clear is fda needs to improve food safety in the us, because it is definitely years behind europe and they will not have many years to bridge this gap ... ” the act covers about 80% of all food consumed within the us, with the exception of meat and poultry, which is regulated separately by the department of agriculture (usda) ... it has been welcomed by the grocery manufacturers association (gma), which is already working in conjunction with suppliers in the 21 countries covered by the asia-pacific economic cooperation group to improve food safety standards ... ” while the fda is having “ robust dialogue ” with the global food safety initiative about the use of third-party certification schemes to manage food safety controls on imports into the us, it is not yet clear whether the fda will still require its own inspections and laboratory analysis of foodstuffs from suppliers plants ... “[the act] establishes a new paradigm for the fda’s regulation of imported food

... world food prices surged to a new historic peak in january, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the updated fao food price index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices ... this is the highest level (both in real and nominal terms) since fao started measuring food prices in 1990 ... high prices “the new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating,” said fao economist and grains expert abdolreza abbassian ... high food prices are of major concern especially for low-income food deficit countries that may face problems in financing food imports and for poor households which spend a large share of their income on food ... ” “the only encouraging factor so far stems from a number of countries, where - due to good harvests - domestic prices of some of the food staples remain low compared to world prices,” abbassian added ... fao emphasized that the food price index has been revised, largely reflecting adjustments to its meat price index

... world food prices surged to a new historic peak in january, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the updated fao food price index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices ... this is the highest level (both in real and nominal terms) since fao started measuring food prices in 1990 ... high prices"the new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating," said fao economist and grains expert abdolreza abbassian ... high food prices are of major concern especially for low-income food deficit countries that may face problems in financing food imports and for poor households which spend a large share of their income on food ... " "the only encouraging factor so far stems from a number of countries, where - due to good harvests - domestic prices of some of the food staples remain low compared to world prices," abbassian added ... fao emphasized that the food price index has been revised, largely reflecting adjustments to its meat price index

... the european commission has given its strongest signal yet that legislation tightening up the monitoring of dioxins in the food and feed chain will follow in the wake of the german crisis ... he revealed that a team of eu inspectors from the food and veterinary office (fvo) would be travelling to germany to help national officials in their handling of the situation, understand how the scandal occurred and learn lessons to avoid it happening again ... dalli said he was now considering the establishment of a “strict segregation” of the production of fats and oils intended for feed and food purposes from their production for technical uses ... ilse aigner, federal food, agriculture and consumer protection minister also called for the introduction of a dioxin early warning system, a new licensing system for oil and fat producers and extending legal requirements for the inspection and subsequent reporting on animal feed products ... meanwhile, japan has tightened checks over food imports from germany due to the scare

... rapid population growth in the near east is not being matched by growth in agricultural production, making the region ever-more dependent on food imports and increasingly vulnerable to market and supply shocks ... this growing food deficit makes the majority of near eastern countries more dependent on imports and, therefore, vulnerable to shocks in international and domestic markets ... "water a major challengea third major challenge to food security in the region is limited water and land resources, diouf said

... fao launches 2nd state of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture report poor farmers need access to improved seeds26 october 2010, rome – the genetic diversity of the plants that we grow and eat and their “wild relatives” could be lost forever, threatening future food security, unless special efforts are stepped up to not only conserve but also utilize them, especially in developing countries ... this is one of the key messages of the second report on the state of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, launched today by fao ... the 350-page report, which covers everything from gene bank collections to the effects of climate change on crop diversity, is the definitive health check on what is being done to protect biodiversity in food and agriculture crops ... climate change genetic information held in certain crop varieties is crucial to the development of heat, drought, salinity, pests and diseases-resistant, fast-growing, high-yielding new varieties, necessary to combat food insecurity in the face of climate change ... it has been twelve years since the first state of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture was published and in that time the global food landscape has changed drastically ... fuel and food prices have increased substantially ... globalization has widened and deepened, and cheap food imports in some countries have threatened the richness of local diversity ... although the report does not attempt to quantify biodiversity loss, empirical evidence points to the continued extinction of crop biodiversity whittling away at the diversity of traditional food crops that survived the last century ... a recent study, highlighted in the state of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, predicts that as much as 22 percent of the wild relatives of important food crops of peanut, potato and beans will disappear by 2055 because of a changing climate

... what is more alarming to me is that by ensuring food safety, we are not making the news or gaining coverage ... supporting african agriculture novus is increasingly committed to helping develop agriculture and egg production on the african continent and has prepared a white paper on the challenges and opportunities for the food sector in sub-saharan africa ... in the paper, novus says: “agriculture is the backbone of overall growth for the majority of countries in sub-saharan africa (ssa) and is essential for poverty reduction and food security in the future ... it is critical for countries in ssa to embrace the potential of agriculture as a means to grow their economies, to become self-sufficient and to diminish the threat of food insecurity ... however, novus international's executive vice president of marketing and sales believes that increasing food imports to africa is not a solution and will not help towards the development of internal markets ... another challenge is to make food security a priority among the local decision makers and entrepreneurs ... large foreign companies who are renting and buying african agricultural land and using it to grow crops that are shipped back home are seen to be backed by the local governments who are looking at the short term financial rewards, and are overlooking the longer term picture of securing enough food for their populations ... they are realizing that food security is paramount for the stability of a country ... some local smallholder farmers are also shifting in mentality and looking at their businesses in a different light, which is also positive given that they represent the majority of the agriculture workforce in sub-saharan africa and, if properly supported and developed, they have the power to make the region more self-sufficient in relation to food which will drive economic development and growth ... although many are working in the ‘lucrative’ businesses that may be dairy, coffee, cocoa or fruit trade, which are ultimately export-driven, there are signs of diversification to produce food for local needs