G.O.O.D

Source: scienceblogs.com

One thing that the Thanksgiving Holidays has made clear: America, the land of plenty where holiday overeating is celebrated as a social good, is suffering from a food availability crisis. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture describes a range of food security categories, ranging from “food secure,” which includes high food security and marginal food security, and “food insecure,” which includes low food security and very low food security. Households whose food security was classified as either “low” or “very low” did not have enough money to purchase an adequate supply of food at least some of the time — and their numbers are increasing dramatically, as anyone who works at or depends upon a food bank or soup kitchen will tell you.

Across the country, more people are appearing at their local food banks and soup kitchens as they struggle to afford enough to eat. For example, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s (NYCCAH) Annual Hunger Survey reports that emergency food providers are serving 28% more people in 2008 than they had last year. But sadly, as New York City food banks point out, donations are down this holiday season just as the faltering economy has increased the need for their services.

“More people are unemployed. People are more desperate for food and scared that it will run out. We have people lining up for food two hours before we begin pantry distribution,” reports Christina Baal, Director of Immigrant and Family Services at Cabrini Immigrant Services.

This decline in food availability has caused NYC food banks and pantries to cut back on the amount and variety of food provided to the hungry and their total food supplies for the week are distributed within a few minutes instead of within an hour or longer. Worse, many pantries have been forced to open less frequently and to close earlier, and several dozen food banks in NYC have permanently closed their doors.

“We can’t nibble around this problem. Hunger is becoming a full blown crisis for our City, and our current economic downturn is only going to make it harder for thousands of New Yorkers to feed themselves and their families,” said Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the General Welfare Committee.

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Technorati Tags: Food Crisis

Source: The Standard

The burgeoning world financial crisis has pushed the attention of policymakers away from the threat of rising food prices, but the global food shortage is far from over, Mr Joachim von Braun, the Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI) has said.

“It continues to threaten the food and nutrition security of poor people around the globe,” Braun states in an emailed response to the current credit crunch that has hit the world’s leading economies.

The financial crisis has reduced demand and speculative activity, leading to lower food prices, and this may provide some relief to poor consumers.

The credit crunch is preventing accelerated flow of capital to long-term investments in sectors such as agriculture, just as this investment is urgently needed, undermining production growth toward a more resilient global food system.

“The pattern of low global investment in agricultural research and development has contributed to slower growth in agricultural productivity,” Braun warns. “Unless the world addresses these challenges, the livelihoods and food security of millions of poor people, as well as the economic, ecological, and political situation in many developing countries, will remain at risk”

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