Diet for a hungry planet

Image credit: Rice by Andrew Butko

I know I've "borrowed" the title of this post* -- I just can't recall from whom or from where. But I'm writing this on this fly because in less than 60 minutes Frances Moore Lappé  will be the guest on CBC Radio's Sunday Edition and I wanted to give you advance notice. And now I realize that it's probably after-the-fact for listeners east of the Rockies. Well, not to despair, we should be able to download it as a podcast tomorrow. I will post a link as soon as it's up.

In the meantime, if you missed the interview you can visit the Small Planet Institute and Anna Lappé's new site and blog.

I also found some podcasts by the Lappés on iTunes University.  I've downloaded them but haven't listened to them yet:

• Eat Grub! Putting Justice on Your Plate   Anna Lappé    Nicholas Talks (Duke University)
• Simply Delicious    Frances Moore Lappé, Alice Waters    The Aurora Forum at Stanford University   (Stanford->Arts&Humanties->Culture)
• Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear    Frances Moore Lappé    The Aurora Forum at Stanford University  
  

Unfortunately I can't insert links to the podcasts, but you can find them with a few clicks:

(1) Go the iTunes store and simply enter "lappe" into the Search field (Anna and Frances are artists 147, 148 & 149); or
(2) Go to iTunes U. Select Duke University , then select  Nicholas School of Environmental Science and the Nicholas Talks; Anna is artist 8.
(3) Select Stanford University and then from the offerings on the next page, select Aurora Forum. Browse the listings to find  Frances' talks (11,36).

Addendum: I found the inspiration for this post's title: (1) a series on CBC' Radio's The Current and (2) Peter Menzel's book. Earlier this year I heard a few portions of the broadcast and viewed a few of the book's pages on a blog. Time now for a closer look and listen.

Learning more about the Global Food Crisis & Rising Food Prices

Click here for full-size image. 

37 countries requiring external assistance according to FAO.

██ Exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies

██ Widespread lack of access

██ Severe localized food insecurity

 

Image credit: Food Crisis 2007-2008 Listed by FAO. You can read FAO documents about Crop Prospects and Food Situation here. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

I'd rather be reading and writing about happier, lighter topics but again this morning I received an email newsletter, this time from DocuTicker*, with more resources about this crisis that cannot be ignored just because it isn't in my/our own backyard...yet. I'll be completely honest with you: I'm at the awareness stage, with minimal understanding. I am concerned and perhaps a little bit worried. And I'm starting now to look for ways to take action.

Here are the DocuTicker links. They are concise, factual, and not filled with overwhelming statistics. They provided me with an overview, a starting point for understanding the causes, impacts and implications of the crisis.

+ Rising food prices: Policy options and World Bank response (World Bank) <http://digbig.com/4wtnn>

+ Implications of higher global food prices for poverty in low-income countries (World Bank) <http://digbig.com/4wtnk>

+ Food Riots in Haiti Threaten Progress (Center for Strategic & International Studies) <http://digbig.com/4wtnp>

+ Food Price Inflation: Causes and Impacts (Congressional Research Service) <http://digbig.com/4wtnh>

+ USDA Rice Projections, 2008-17  (U.S. Department of Agriculture) <http://digbig.com/4wtnj>

*DocuTicker offers a hand-picked selection of resources, reports and publications from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations. It is maintained by librarians.