European Commission Aims to Cut Food Waste 50 Percent by 2020

ENN, January 19, 2012

Europe may be facing much larger problem than what to do with its food waste. But being pushed through the European parliament is a bill that will have widespread significance. That is because food waste accounts for one of the largest sources of overall waste going to landfills. Per year, the average person throws away 300 kg (660 lbs) per year, and of this, two thirds is still edible. MEPs are railing against what they see as unsustainable levels of waste. Read more...

Not your grandma’s strawberries

Grist, August 09, 2011

Your fruits and veggies are less nutritious than they used to be -- find out how much less with this handy interactive infographic. Plus: Check out an infographic illustrating how empty calories are cheaper than nutritious ones. Read more...

Lamb, beef and cheese have largest food footprint

The Ecologist, July 27, 2011

US analysis highlights the high greenhouse gas emissions of popular animal products in comparison to alternatives like lentils, rice and tomatoes. 

Food derived from methane-generating ruminant animals such as sheep and cows has the highest level of greenhouse gas emissions, according to research published in the US.  The research, commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), was based on emissions from everything from the fertilisers used to grow animal feed to the processing and cooking of the final product. Read more...

Climate change has spurred food prices

ENN, May 06, 2011



Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3 percent over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday. The impacts translated into up to 20 percent higher average commodity prices, before accounting for other factors, according to the paper published in the journal Science. Read more...

Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N.

Reuters, March 8, 2011

Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report says.
Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh's use of ducks to eat weeds in rice paddies are among examples of steps taken to increase food for a world population that the United Nations says will be 7 billion this year and 9 billion by 2050. "Agriculture is at a crossroads," according to the study by Olivier de Schutter, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a drive to depress record food prices and avoid the costly oil-dependent model of industrial farming. Read more...

Kellogg Cereal Recall Highlights a New Concern: Chemicals Leaching from Food Packaging

ENN, July 06, 2010

Kellogg is recalling as many as 28 million boxes of cereal because a chemical is leaching from the food packaging into the cereal. The Food and Drug Administration states the reason for the recall as "uncharacteristic off-flavor and smell coming from the liner in the package.". The incident highlights a little-appreciated concern: While packaging can help food last longer, it can also leach chemicals into foods. Read more...

Global Study of Salmon Shows: 'Sustainable' Food Isn't So Sustainable

Science Daily, November 30, 2009

Popular thinking about how to improve food systems for the better often misses the point, according to the results of a three-year global study of salmon production systems. Rather than pushing for organic or land-based production, or worrying about simple metrics such as "food miles," the study finds that the world can achieve greater environmental benefits by focusing on improvements to key aspects of production and distribution.
For example, what farmed salmon are fed, how wild salmon are caught and the choice to buy frozen over fresh matters more than organic vs. conventional or wild vs. farmed when considering global scale environmental impacts such as climate change, ozone depletion, loss of critical habitat, and ocean acidification. Read more...

Is Local Food Better?

by Sarah DeWeerdt

WolldWatch Institute, May/June issue, 2009

In 1993, a Swedish researcher calculated that the ingredients of a typical Swedish breakfast-apple, bread, butter, cheese, coffee, cream, orange juice, sugar-traveled a distance equal to the circumference of the Earth before reaching the Scandinavian table. In 2005, a researcher in Iowa found that the milk, sugar, and strawberries that go into a carton of strawberry yogurt collectively journeyed 2,211 miles (3,558 kilometers) just to get to the processing plant. As the local-food movement has come of age, this concept of "food miles" (or "-kilometers")-roughly, the distance food travels from farm to plate-has come to dominate the discussion, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Western Europe. Read more...

Natural disasters contribute to rise in population displacement

ENN, June 23, 2008

There are now more than 11 million refugees worldwide, the United Nations refugee agency has warned as the world celebrates World Refugee Day.
A new report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says conflicts, climate change and rising food prices are some of the factors leading to the rise in global displacement to 11.4 million refugees worldwide-up from 9.9 million last year. Read more...

Study suggests pesticides 'crucial' for EU food supply

EurActiv, February 6, 2008

Overly stringent EU rules on pesticides will lead to a decline in European agricultural self-sufficiency resulting in ever-increasing food prices and job losses in the agri-food sector, warns a recent industry-funded study. The findings were immediately rejected by environmental activists, who derided the study as "professional scaremongering" by "lobbyists behaving like a posse of corporate cowboys.". Read more...