World food system exploits consumers: activist

Raj Patel held up a Snickers bar, examined the list of ingredients and proclaimed it the key to understanding the world’s food system. The list included cocoa, likely from the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer and an employer of child labour. It also included lecithin, an emulsifier made from soybean oil, found in

Tens of thousands of Cubans seeking farmland

Cubans are applying for land by the tens of thousands for the first time since the 1960s as part of the Communist government’s reform of the state-dominated agriculture sector, a top farm leader said. The president of the National Association of Small Farmers, Orlando Lugo Fonte, told members at a meeting in eastern Guantanamo province


Farm groups want a voice at pesticide meeting

“Farmers are a lot more conscious of the impact of pesticides and the need to apply them properly.” Some farm groups want to be sure delegates to a Canadian Cancer Society conference on agricultural pesticides get the farmers’ side of the story. “We want to ensure the voice of producers is heard on the need

World food balance seen unclear for next decade

World farming will face uncertainty for at least 10 years over how far supply and demand can be balanced, implying little short-term relief from price volatility, the EU’s leading agricultural producer France says. In a working paper authored by France and being discussed by EU agriculture ministers at an informal meeting in late September, Paris


Christian forum tackles controversial food issues

“We thought ‘is it possible for us to get together and talk gracefully, peacefully together about such difficult, conflicting issues?” – BRUCE DUGGAN, LEAD CO-ORDINATOR FOR EVENT Some Christians run agribusinesses. Some volunteer in community gardens. Some say modern agricultural technology will feed humanity. Others are saying it’s bringing the family farm to its knees.