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.

Another way to get your veggies (& smiles) today...

....as Vegetimals:

Art by Kim Smith. 

You can purchase this whimsical print, Reginald or Arta  from Uppercase Gallery's online shop. (Thanks, Janine.)

 

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.

World Food Crisis

This evening I was planning on editing and sharing my notes from Dr. Susan I. Barr's excellent  session on Canada's Food Guide presented at the Dietetics in Action education day.  But about an hour ago I received an email message from Avaaz.org that convinced I should learn more about the global food crisis -- NOW.  I am reproducing the message here word-for-word so that you can follow the links (Avaaz backs up the statements with published sources) and decide whether you want to sign the petition. I did.

Dear friends,

Rocketing prices threaten to starve millions and make us all less secure -- sign the emergency petition for action to stop the world food crisis Sign the Petition Watch the Video

Have you noticed food costing more when you shop? Here's why -- we're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Rocketing prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million more people are at risk of starvation right now[1]. In Sierra Leone alone the price of a bag of rice has doubled, becoming unaffordable for 90% of citizens[2]. Fears of inflation stalk the whole world, and the worst could be yet to come.

We need to act now -- before it's too late. As Ban Ki-Moon holds a high-level UN meeting on the crisis, we're launching an urgent campaign with African foreign minister and human rights campaigner Zainab Bangura. Click below to see Zainab's video message and add your name to the food crisis petition -- we need to raise 200,000 signatures by the end of this week to deliver a massive global outcry to leaders at the UN, G8 and EU:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php

The prices of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice have almost doubled, and the crisis is slipping out of control -- so we're calling for immediate action on emergency food aid, speculation and biofuels policy, while asking forthcoming summits to tackle deeper problems of investment and trade.[3]

The global food crisis touches and connects us all, creating a tsunami of hunger for the poor and damaging economies and squeezing citizens in the rich world too. But solutions are on the horizon if leaders act fast [4] -- sign the petition at the link below now, then forward this email and ask friends and family to do the same:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php

With hope,

Paul, Galit, Ricken, Graziela, Iain, Mark, Pascal and the whole Avaaz team

Sources:

1. BBC: "How to stop the global food crisis": http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7365798.stm

"The New Economics of Hunger", Washington Post, 27 April 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042602041_pf.html

2. Zainab Bangura, Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, video message to Avaaz members http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php

3. Chinese news citing World Bank figures: http://www.cctv.com/english/20080426/102406.shtml

Reuters: "Rising food prices to top UN agenda" http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSL1890947220080424

4. See BBC article above, and "Rising Food Prices" by Alex Evans (Chatham House report) http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/11422_bp0408food.pdf

UN scientific report on fixing the world food system: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7347239.stm

The Guardian: "Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger", George Monbiot http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/food.biofuels

----------
ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Poster presentation

Blogging as a tool for learning, communicating & connecting and translating knowledge into practice

Tomorrow is the Dietetics in Action Day at which I will present this poster.  Many of the dietitians at this event will not have blogging experience or will be unfamiliar with Greens & Berries, so I've kept the information very basic.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll not find anything new in the presentation so you may not want to take time to open or download it.  I'm including the file  here so I don't lose track of it (!) on my cluttered hard drive at work and to remind me of the lessons learned (but certainly not mastered) in creating my second poster.