Hunger still bites in land of plenty

Some 36.2 million Americans struggle to get enough food to eat and one-third of them go hungry from time to time, according to a government survey taken before this year’s economic downturn. Anti-hunger groups said hunger has worsened since the government’s survey of 45,600 households at the end of 2007. They want Congress to increase

UN food lines will grow

The UN food agency expects to feed around a third more hungry people next year, as the global financial crisis adds to the pressure of high food prices on poor nations, a top official said Oct. 15. Sheila Sisulu, deputy executive director at the UN World Food Program (WFP), said an increase of around 30


World food security needs collaboration

It is interesting to see how the current financial crisis is changing the way that we think about the world. This point was driven home for me when I had the opportunity to attend a symposium last week in Berkeley, Calif. entitled “Causes and Consequences of the Food Price Crisis.” Sponsored by the Giannini Foundation,

Developing world leaders urge action on food

Developing world leaders said Sept. 23 that escalating food costs were exacting a heavy toll on the poor and called for global action to reverse the trend, which threatens to undermine economic growth. The impact of higher global food prices was raised by leaders in speeches to the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering, where