#How Goldman sachs Created the Food crisis The word again today IS GREED. Frederick Kaufmans piece for Foreign policy examines how the Goldman sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) is responsible for the increase in food prices.
T he boom in new speculative opportunities in global grain, edible oil, and livestock markets has created a vicious cycle.
The more the price of food commodities increases, the more money pours into the sector,
#hedge fund Michael Masters testified before Congress in the midst of the 2008 food crisis#Today, bankers and traders sit at the top of the food chain#the carnivores of the system,
devouring everyone and everything below. Near the bottom toils the farmer. For him, the rising price of grain should have been a windfall,
The average American, who spends roughly 8 to 12 percent of her weekly paycheck on food
But for the roughly 2-billion people across the world who spend more than 50 percent of their income on food,
bringing the total of the worlds food insecure#to a peak of 1 billion#a number never seen before.
or genetically modified crops for rising food prices. Wall streets at fault for the spiraling cost of food. The result of Wall streets venture into grain and feed and livestock has been a shock to the global food production and delivery system.
Not only does the worlds food supply have to contend with constricted supply and increased demand for real grain,
but investment bankers have engineered an artificial upward pull on the price of grain futures. The result:
Imaginary wheat dominates the price of real wheat, as speculators (traditionally one-fifth of the market) now outnumber bona fide hedgers four-to-one. via Boing Boing Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati d
#FTC Proposes Stricter Guidelines on Food Ads for Children Regulators are asking food makers and restaurant companies to make a choice:
make your products healthier or stop advertising them to youngsters. The Federal trade commission has proposed sweeping new guidelines that could push the food industry to overhaul how it advertises cereal, soda pop, snacks, restaurant meals and other foods to children.
Citing an epidemic of childhood obesity, regulators are taking aim at a range of tactics used to market foods high in sugar,
fat or salt to children, including the use of cartoon characters like Toucan Sam, the brightly colored Froot Loops pitchman,
Regulators are asking food makers and restaurant companies to make a choice: make your products healthier
or stop advertising them to youngsters. Toucan Sam can sell healthy food or junk food,#said Dale Kunkel,
a communications professor at the University of Arizona who studies the marketing of childrens food.
This forces Toucan Sam to be associated with healthier products.##The guidelines, released by the Federal trade commission, encompass a broad range of marketing efforts,
including television and print ads, Web sites, online games that act as camouflaged advertisements, social media, product placements in movies, the use of movie characters in cross-promotions and fast-food childrens meals.
The inclusion of digital media, such as product-based games, represents one of the governments strongest efforts so far to address the extension of childrens advertising into the online world,
a trade group that represents marketers like Kraft Foods and Campbell soup. By explicitly tying advertising to childhood obesity,
Ronald Mcdonald and the movie and television characters used to promote food. It also raises the question of
#said Michelle K. Rusk, a lawyer with the trade commission. The goal is to encourage children to eat more healthy foods
because obesity is a huge health crisis.#The F. T. C. said that in 2006,
food companies spent nearly $2. 3 billion to advertise to children. The food industry immediately criticized the proposal,
saying that it had taken already significant steps to improve recipes and change the way it advertises to children.
Kellogg, the company that makes Froot Loops said in a statement that it would review the proposal
and that it was committed to improving the nutrition credentials#of its products. We have very specific criteria, based on a broad review of scientific reports,
Scott Faber, a vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a group that represents food makers,
said that ads for packaged foods on television shows aimed at children 2 to 11 had dropped significantly since 2004,
and that the ads more often showed healthier types of foods. He said companies had changed also many recipes to reduce salt,
sugar and fat and add healthful ingredients like whole grains. The rate of reformulation is going to increase,
not as a result of the principles that were announced today but because consumers are demanding changes in the marketplace,
Many food companies participate in an industry-led effort, the Childrens Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative,
The guidelines were created at the request of Congress and written by the commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture department and the Centers for Disease Control.
The guidelines call for foods that are advertised to children to meet two basic requirements. They would have to include certain healthful ingredients, like whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables
And they could not contain unhealthful amounts of sugar, saturated fat, trans fat and salt.
The sugar requirement would limit cereals to eight grams of added sugar a serving, far less than many popular cereals have today.
and many packaged foods on the shelves today would have a hard time meeting them. In an initial phase in period,
the guidelines call for many foods to have no more than 210 milligrams of sodium a serving,
while main dishes and meals, including both restaurant food and packaged food, could have no more than 450 milligrams.
Today, a 15-ounce can of Chef Boyardee beef ravioli has two servings, with 750 milligrams of sodium per serving.
The sodium restrictions would get tougher over time. The federal agencies acknowledged that a large percentage of food products currently in the marketplace would not meet the principles.#
#The guidelines would apply to both young children and teenagers. The industry has said it should have greater leeway for teenagers,
and Ms. Rusk said the agencies would consider those arguments. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public interest, an advocacy group, predicted that the guidelines would force many companies to accept great restrictions
and improve recipes. With all the concern about childhood obesity, I think theres a lot of pressure on companies to do the right thing
The Food and Drug Administrations announcement came after the Court of appeals for the D c. Circuit issued a decision
but its scary for our food system. This is no surprise considering the USDAS treatment of GMO sugar beets,
The next time EPA and the pesticide industry tell you all is well with the food system
Micro agronomy is based on the notion that a decentralized food growers network will lead to greater biodiversity,
The health benefits go beyond just small amounts of food, to improving air quality, the natural environment and providing healthy exercise.
or can we all begin to grow our own food supply? As a community we can learn from each other
I totally guessed that paladins smelled like vanilla and evil#smelled of Smouldering opium tar, tobacco absolute, green tea, black plum, kush, ambergris accord, ambrette seed,
and costus root##DWARF: Iron filings and chips of stone, Styrian Golding hops, and soot-covered leather.
White sandalwood, beeswax, white tea leaf, oud, and a hint of sophisticated urban musk. HALFLING: Porridge, kukui nuts,
and pastry crumbs. ORC: Field grey courgette musk, roughly cured leather, and vetiver. CLERIC: Rose amber, frankincense, myrrh, champaca flower, Peru balsam, cistus, palisander, cananga, hyssop,
and narcissus absolute. FIGHTER: Leather, musk, blood, and steel. MAGE: All mystique and thrumming power:
gurjum balsam, Sumatran dragons blood resin, olibanum, galangal, oleo gum resin, and frankincense. The RPG Series via Neatorama Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati n
#iphone Secretly Tracks Everywhere You Go The map shows location data collected from an iphone that had been used in England.
#Rising Food and Gas Prices Could Slow Economic growth Americans paying more for food and gas.
U s. consumer inflation rises as Americans are paying more for food and gas. This trend that could slow economic growth in the months ahead according to a new report.
Excluding the volatile food and gas categories the so-called core index rose 0. 1 percent
but the steep rise in food and gas prices could limit their ability to purchase discretionary goods and services.
Food prices rose 0. 8 percent last month, the largest increase in almost three years.
Prices for fruits and vegetables, dairy products, chicken and beef all increased. Coffee costs rose 3. 5 percent.
and food will have only a modest and temporary impact on inflation. Nothing here to change the Feds view that the surge in commodity prices can be ignored
Dr Bahram Arjmandi, of the department of nutrition, food and exercise sciences at Florida University, described the results as incredible#In the study,
in addition to their normal diets. Blood samples were taken at the start of the study and at three, six and 12 months.
Dr Arjmandi said that incredible changes in the apple-eating women happened by 6 months-they experienced a 23 per cent decrease in LDL cholesterol,
tea and dark chocolate#stimulate the breakdown of fats in the blood and reduce inflammation of vessel walls,
The so-called halo effect#can actually lead to people eating more of the organic food than the inorganic
Now scientists believe that the same idea could apply to food labelling such as organic. Jenny Wan-Chen Lee, a graduate student in Cornell University, in New york, said research has shown that people tend to consume more calories at fast-food restaurants claiming to serve healthier#foods,
compared to the amount they eat at a typical burger bar. She asked 144 subjects at the local shopping centre to compare
what they thought were conventionally and organically produced chocolate sandwich cookies, plain yogurt, and potato crisps.
All of the products, however, were actually of the organic variety#they were labelled just as being regular#or organic.#
#Participants were asked then to rate each food for 10 different attributes (e g.,, overall taste perception of fat content) using a scale from 1 to 9. She also asked them to estimate the number of calories in each food item.
She found that on average people rated the organic labelled a full mark up the scale when it came to health.
The findings were reported at the American Society for Nutrition annual conference. Via Telegraph Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati S
what pasta is made from #and is also a major grower of other crops including barley, pinto beans, and flaxseed.
They feed on a wide range of important food crops, #Hoelmer says. Crops such as sweet corn, apples, pears, grapes, berries, peaches, tomatoes and peppers appear to be the most vulnerable.
Some growers have lost their entire crop to stink bug infestations, #Hoelmer says. This adds up to many millions of dollars of losses in crop values.
Two USDA agencies#the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Agricultural research service#fund projects at universities and research centers to study how to control
might be able to nip the stink bug explosion in the bud by preying on brown marmorated stink bug eggs, the only type of eggs that species of wasps eats.
We already know that each species of Trissolcus only recognizes certain kinds of stink bugs as suitable food for their offspring.
#Food Dyeâ##s May be linked to Hyperactivity in Children Artificial dyes in food are limited not just to candy.
The use of artificial dyes by foodmakers is up by half since 1990, and its not limited to candy.
The list of foods made pretty by chemicals now includes pickles, bagels and port wine cheese balls.
Americans are really turned on by a bright-red strawberry juice, and they think its natural,
#said Kantha Shelke, co-president of the food research firm Corvus Blue. Or cheese#cheese is naturally a pale color
but most young kids will not eat cheese unless its a bright, almost fluorescent orange.##Foodmakers have used dyes
since ancient times to make food more appealing to the eye. But the practice has invaded
so the modern psyche that artificial dyes are being used even on some pet foods. Dogs see limited color,
but apparently their owners dont like buying dull, gray chow. Now, federal regulators are reexamining artificial ingredients they have deemed long to be prompted safe
by scientific studies suggesting that color additives might be linked to hyperactivity in children and other health effects.
On Wednesday, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration will begin a two-day meeting to discuss the science behind artificial dyes
and whether the government ought to restrict their use. There are sometimes nine different dyes in a food product#said Laura Anderko of Georgetown University Medical center,
who serves on the Childrens Health Protection Advisory Committee for the Environmental protection agency. Moms and dads will say,
#Two recent studies sponsored by The british government found that children given foods made with some artificial dyes and a food preservative,
but when you consider other important factors that could be responsible for the results, such as gender, maternal education level, pretrial diet and other factors,
it becomes impossible to affirm that the change in behavior was said due to food colors Keith Ayoob, director of the nutrition clinic at the Rose F. Kennedy Childrens Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In 2009, after the studies on hyperactivity, The british government urged foodmakers to stop using six dyes.
The European parliament required foods containing the tested dyes to carry a label warning that products may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.#
#The government continues to allow the use of several other artificial dyes. To avoid warning labels on their products in Europe,
many foodmakers#including U s.-based companies such as Kellogg and Mars International#replaced the six dyes with other dyes,
but permitted its continued use in foods. Food industry officials say artificial dyes are safe and contend that The british studies
and others are inconclusive. Manufacturers also note that the dyes are regulated heavily by the FDA,
unlike many other ingredients used in foods. All of the major safety bodies globally have reviewed the available science
and have determined that there is no demonstrable link between artificial food colors and hyperactivity among children,##said statement from the Grocery Manufacturers Association,
which represents foodmakers, packagers and retailers. Still, some U s. companies are beginning to make the switch away from artificial dyes,
driven in part by consumer demands for healthier food. Frito-Lay is promoting its decision to get rid of artificial colors and flavors in more than 60 of its snack products, substituting ingredients such as beet juice and carrots for Red No. 40, one of the artificial dyes.
Were always looking for new ways to give consumers what theyre looking for, which includes providing a wider range of products made with natural ingredients,#
#said Jeff Dahncke, a spokesman for Pepsico, which owns Frito-Lay. But the company said it has no plans to mess with the chemically enhanced orange of its Doritos or Cheetos,
two of its top-selling brands. In a signal of where the food coloring industry is headed, one major color supplier, Sensient Colors,
announced last year that it was spending $16 million to create the largest natural color manufacturing plant in North america.
The trend towards natural colors is accelerating, and this new manufacturing plant will further promote the conversion to natural colors by large food and beverage manufacturers,#
#Kenneth P. Manning, chairman and chief executive of Sensient Technologies, said at the time. In this country, the use of dyes took off with the popularity of processed foods after WORLD WAR II,
said Shelke, the food scientist. Manufacturers originally made processed foods for the military, Shelke said,
and after the war, they turned their sights on the consumer market. But housewives buying products for their families were more discerning than soldiers,
she said. The manufacturers wanted to make sure the food would look good, #she said. They made tomato juice
and realized that it turned brown,##Shelke said. So the first thing they did was to put color in it.#
#Natural colors tend to fade over time and can be inconsistent, so the industry developed chemical dyes that were stable.
what a food looks like.##Via Washington post Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati
#â Blackberry Thumbâ##â#New Health Hazard Blackberry thumb Tennis elbow, writers block and even athletes foot are problems than can cause considerable discomfort and more than a little embarrassment.
a chemical used to produce the butter-like taste. Over-exposure can cause lung damage.
because people visit theaters to consume movies, not food. Were not restaurants where people go to eat
and satisfy themselves,#Gary Klein, the theater trade groups general counsel, said. Its dinner and a movie
not dinner at a movie.##Theater operators have a vested interest in fighting the proposed rules, as they generate up to one-third of their revenue from selling popcorn, sodas and other snacks.
Popcorn is especially profitable. As David Ownby, the chief financial officer of Regal Entertainment Group, the nations largest theater circuit, recently said at an investor presentation,
We sell a bucket of popcorn for about $6. Our cost in that $6 bucket of popcorn is about 15 cents or 20 cents.
However, why anyone other than children would benefit from drinking human milk, in so much as they would benefit more than getting the same nutrients from non-creepily-genetically-modified animal sources, escapes me entirely.
If factory farmed dairy werent bad enough, now someone really thought it was a good idea to genetically modify the cows to produce a substance similar to something that humans already produce naturally.
Most of us think that eating fruits and vegetables can be nothing but healthy but there are hidden dangers in many common foods.
Poisons that make you sick, paralyze and even kill you lurk behind some of our favorites#10.
ever put them in salads raw. Cooking renders them harmless and gives you lots of good nutrition. 9. Cassava Rootwhen it comes to starch,
cassava (also called manioc or yucca) is the third most consumed food in the world.
It also contains cyanide and unless processed in some way, it can kill. There are two types, sweet and bitter,
with the bitter having more cyanide, but many farmers prefer it because pests dont eat it
and has killed humans in the past. 8. Nutmeg Nutmeg contains myristicine, which is psychoactive. If that wasnt enough, too much of it will cause vomiting, sweating, dizziness, hallucinations and headache.
Not to worry though, the amount normally used in any cooking is not enough to give you any symptoms,
but lately there has been a fad by teens to get high on nutmeg#with very unhappy results. 7. Kidney beans Kidney beans contain the toxin phytohaemagglutinin,
The beans MUST be boiled for 10 minutes before cooking and that includes slow cooking. These beans become five times more toxic
when heated to the temperatures used in slow cooking than they are when raw, so never just add them to a stew or chili without boiling them first.
Better yet, use canned kidney beans. Only a few will land you in hospital wishing you had died.
A few more and there is no wishing about it. 6. Chocolate (cocoa beans) Chocolate is included here though while it is not poisonous to humans,
the ingredient theobromine is dangerous to dogs and cats. Most of us love our furry friends and it is vital you keep your favorite treats away from them.
which is sweet, they seem to enjoy it so never leave it where they can scoot off with an Easter egg.
it is just too low a dose to bother most of us though some elderly chocolate lovers may find themselves unable to tolerate it. 5. Tomato The leaves
Always refuse tea made from the leaves though; it is offered still something on occasion. 4. Cherries, Apricots, Peaches and Plums Cherries, apricots,
Some people die every year (not just children) from eating too many pits, but you do have to work at it.
#Pepsico Unveils Worldâ##s First Plastic Bottle Made Entirely From Plant-based Materials Pepsicos 100%plant-based bottle.
Remember the Cola Wars? Get ready for the Bottle Wars. Pepsico Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a bottle made entirely of plant material,
which it says bests the technology of competitor Coca-cola and reduces its potential carbon footprint.
The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.
The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles,
Papalia said. Its indistinguishable.##Pepsico says it is the worlds first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant-based materials.
Coca-cola Co. currently produces a bottle using 30 per cent plant-based materials and recently estimated it would be several years before it has a 100 per cent plant bottle thats commercially viable.
Weve cracked the code, #said Rocco Papalia, senior vice-president of advanced research of Pepsico. The discovery potentially changes the industry standard for plastic packaging.
Traditional plastic, called PET, is used in beverage bottles, food pouches, coatings and other common products.
The plastic is the go-to because its lightweight and shatter-resistant, its safety is researched well and it doesnt affect flavours.
Pepsi says the new plastic will cost about the same as traditional plastic. The company, based in Purchase,
While Pepsico wouldnt specify the cost to research and design the new bottle, Papalia said it is in the millions of dollars.
Its one of several steps Pepsico has taken recently to reduce its environmental impact. The company created a fully compostable bag for its Sunchips line.
And its Naked Juice line is in the midst of switching to a bottle made entirely of recycled plastic bottles.
Pepsico says of its 19 biggest brands, those that generate more than $1 billion (dollar figures U s.)in revenue,
11 are beverage brands that use PET. The company says the packaging will cost roughly the same as it does today.
Pepsico plans to test the product in 2012 in a few hundred thousand bottles. Once the company is sure it can successfully produce the bottle at that scale,
such as French mustard, roast beef, and pineapple#2 Cups Sugar 1 Tsp Baking soda 1/4 Cup Citric acid Crystals (Can be tricky to find.
If your local gourmet/country store doesnt have them try here. 1/3 Cup of Corn syrup Small amount of Water (Just enough to get sugar wet) 1/4-1 Tsp Flavoring (any extract will work.
Use what you like! When using stronger flavors such as cinnamon, mint, and cherry, you can use a small amount (about 1/4 teaspoon).
Subtler flavors such as lemon, strawberry, orange, and peach require more (1/2 to 1 teaspoon.)
A few Drops of Food coloring of your choice Pop Rocks!(via Make! Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati e
When traveling long distances, its best to bring your entire food chain with you...Curiosity! Its a guy thing#..
The size of the hand is less important than the size of the food its trying to feed you...
#Why World Food Prices Are poised to Keep Climbing In February, world food prices reached the highest level on record.
Soaring food prices are already a source of spreading hunger and political unrest, and it appears likely that they will climb further in the months ahead#As a result of an extraordinarily tight grain situation,
this years harvest will be one of the most closely watched in years. Last year, the world produced 2, 180 million tons of grain.
Barley, oats, sorghum, rye, and millet make up the remainder. We start by looking at rice because,
During later stages of Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis infection, the fungus rapidly consumes the nutrients inside a zombie ant
#Mcdonaldâ##s â Oatmealâ#Has 11 Weird Ingredients, More Sugar Than a Snickers An oatmeal dont.
Writing on the New york times blog, Mark Bittman reviews Mcdonalds nightmarish attempt at making oatmeal (a foodstuff with one ingredient:
Yet in typical Mcdonalds fashion, the company is doing everything it can to turn oatmeal into yet another bad choice.
Not only that, theyve made it more expensive than a double-cheeseburger: $2. 38 per serving in New york.
the least processed of the ingredients (even the oatmeal contains seven ingredients, including natural flavor#).
sugar dried fruit, cream and 11 weird ingredients you would never keep in your kitchen.####Incredibly, the Mcdonalds product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a Mcdonalds cheeseburger or Egg Mcmuffin.
Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a Mcdonalds hamburger. How to Make Oatmeal...
Wrong (via Super Punch) Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati i
#London Ice cream Parlor Sells Breast Milk Ice cream Breast milk ice cream served in a martini glass.
When a well-stocked ice cream parlour says they sell every flavor, there are usually limits. But one restaurant in London is selling breast milk ice cream
which is being served to customers in a cocktail glass. Icecreamists, based in Covent garden, have named the £14 dish Baby Gaga.
Victoria Hiley, 35, from Leeds provided the first 30 fluid ounces of milk which was enough to make the first 50 servings.
But the company are looking for more women to provide breast milk #and are providing £15 for every ten ounces extracted using breast pumps.
The recipe blends breast milk with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest which is churned then freshly into ice cream.
A costumed Baby Gaga waitress serves the ice cream in a martini glass filled with the breast milk ice cream mix.
A costumed Baby Gaga waitress serves the ice cream in a martini glass filled with the breast milk ice cream mix.
Liquid nitrogen is poured then into the glass through a syringe and it is served with a rusk.
It can be served with whisky or another cocktail on request. Mother-of-one Victoria said: I saw the advert offering to pay women to donate breast milk on a forum
and it made me laugh. There were so many comments and people were having a debate on
whether it could be genuine. So I thought Id find out. Another 13 women have volunteered to donate their breast milk.
To maintain the highest standards, health checks for the lactating women are exactly the same used by the NHS to screen blood donors.
Ms Hiley added: It wasnt intrusive at all to donate#just a simple blood test. What could be more natural than fresh,
free-range mothers milk in an ice cream? Victoria works with women who have problems breast feeding their babies.
You can kid yourself that its a healthy ice cream! said Victoria. But it is very nice it really melts in the mouth.
Founder Matt OCONNOR, 44, is confident his new ice cream will go down well with the paying public.
No ones done anything interesting with ice cream in the last hundred years, he said. Weve came up with a method of infusing ice-cream with breast milk.
We wanted to completely reinvent it. And by using breast milk weve definitely given it a one hundred percent makeover.
We want to change the way people think about ice cream. Via Daily mail Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati p
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011