Archive for the 'Food' Category
China: Toxic Milk Sickens 53,000
September 22nd, 2008The number is probably understated by an order of magnitude, or two. Via: AFP: China’s tainted milk scandal spiralled into uncharted territory Monday as authorities said nearly 53,000 children had been sickened and more countries moved to ban or recall Chinese dairy imports. In a dramatic update of previous figures, the health ministry said a […]
Chinese Baby Formula Contained Melamine
September 16th, 2008Via: New Zealand Herald: Chinese police have arrested two brothers suspected of adding an industrial chemical to milk they sold to a company that produced infant formula that has killed two babies. The news came just hours after Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier said he was happy with the way the NZ dairy giant had […]
UK: Farmers Fear Harvest Could Be The Worst Since 1968
September 11th, 2008Worst grain harvest in 40 years, but bread prices won’t rise? Ok. Via: Times Online: Britain is facing its worst harvest for at least 40 years as 30 per cent of the country’s grain lies in waterlogged or sodden ground. Hilary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary, is expected to give the go-ahead today for farmers […]
UK: Shoppers to Use Fingerprints or Eye Scans to Pay for Goods
September 10th, 2008Mmm hmm. The clean, green ziggurat will have everything under control. Get your retina scanned to gain access to the free speech zone? Via: Telegraph: The futuristic systems, like those used by Tom Cruise in the science fiction film Minority Report, are being developed by scientists for Barclaycard. The company has announced it is investing […]
UK: Food Prices Soar This Year
September 5th, 2008Via: Reuters: Food prices in shops and supermarkets have risen by more than 8 percent this year, with some items up nearly 50 percent, a survey for the BBC said on Friday. The survey, carried out by retail analysts Verdict Research, found that meat and fish prices had gone up by almost 23 percent while […]
The Sahara Forest Project
September 3rd, 2008This is the second macro scale techno utopia story in as many days. Remember Japan’s “Eco-Rigs” from yesterday. Via: Guardian: Vast greenhouses that use sea water for crop cultivation could be combined with solar power plants to provide food, fresh water and clean energy in deserts, under an ambitious proposal from a team of architects […]
Massive Floating Generators, or ‘Eco-Rigs’, to Provide Power and Food to Japan
September 2nd, 2008Uh… I checked to make sure that I wasn’t reading The Onion. I checked twice. Via: Telegraph: Battered by soaring energy costs and aghast at dwindling fish stocks, Japanese scientists think they have found the answer: filling the seas with giant “eco-rigs” as powerful as nuclear power stations. The project, which could result in village-sized […]
New Zealand Supermarkets Chipping Cheese Blocks, Meat to Prevent Theft
August 30th, 2008Via: New Zealand Herald: Supermarkets are introducing electronic tags on items popular with shoplifters and other thieves. The Source Tagging Alliance, set up by leading retailers, is encouraging suppliers to use radio frequency identification (RFID) and source tagging on grocery product packaging at the point of manufacture. Retailer Association chief executive John Albertson told the […]
The Price of Rat Meat has Quadrupled in Cambodia
August 28th, 2008Via: Reuters: The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday. With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 […]
Russia Has Such a Large Grain Harvest There’s Not Enough Storage
August 22nd, 2008Good news on the grains supply side, I think. Well, maybe not. Russia doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to handle such a massive harvest. Via: Bloomberg: Russia risks running out of storage capacity for corn, wheat and barley after the best harvest in at least 15 years, threatening a government plan to expand agricultural […]
