Archive for the 'Food' Category
High Density Vertical Growth (HDVG) System
July 2nd, 2008Valcent Products claims to have a system that yields 20 times the normal production volume for many field crops while using only 5% of the water that is normally required. It’s a vertical growth system and they deliver all of the nutrients via solution. Look, I’m agnostic on this. I’m not advocating this, but maybe […]
UK: Gardens Ruined by Toxic Fertiliser
June 30th, 2008Via: Guardian: Gardeners have been warned not to eat home-grown vegetables contaminated by a powerful new herbicide that is destroying gardens and allotments across the UK. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been inundated with calls from concerned gardeners who have seen potatoes, beans, peas, carrots and salad vegetables wither or become grossly deformed. The […]
Oil Rises Above $142 for First Time as Investors Spurn Stocks
June 29th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Welcome to the public participation phase on oil… UPDATE: Actually, no. I take that back. I just looked at the charts and the daily interval doesn’t show the tell tale gap of public participation. Check back later for look at oil […]
The Price Of Food: 2007 – 2008
June 28th, 2008I noted a few of the most shocking increases. Remember, these are changes over just one year. Via: Cattle Network: Eggs, Grade A +28.32% Barley +52.56% Beans, Dry Edible +64.29% Corn +46.70% Flaxseed +134.46% Lentils +147.73% Oats +38.96% Peas, Dry Edible +62.38% Rice, Rough +50.00% Sorghum +41.45% Soybeans +72.75% Sunflower +65.06% Wheat +80.33% Research Credit: […]
U.S. Crop Damage from Weather Tops $8 Billion
June 26th, 2008Via: Reuters: From the worst floods in the Midwest grain belt in 15 years to drought in California, damage to crops from inclement weather has topped $8 billion so far this year, the largest U.S. farm group said on Wednesday. The damage could rise or contract, depending on weather conditions for the rest of the […]
Iowa: Severe Soil Erosion
June 24th, 2008Via: Des Moines Register: Soil erosion has caused substantial damage to Iowa’s farm fields hit hard by heavy rain and flooding this spring, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said after touring two areas of the state. Heavy rains this spring came when the soil was most vulnerable to erosion – when the soil has […]
Floods: More Expensive Beef, Pork, Poultry, Eggs, Cheese and Milk on the Way
June 23rd, 2008Via: AP: Raging Midwest floodwaters that swallowed crops and sent corn and soybean prices soaring are about to give consumers more grief at the grocery store. In the latest bout of food inflation, beef, pork, poultry and even eggs, cheese and milk are expected to get more expensive as livestock owners go out of business […]
New Zealand Hitting the Wall
June 22nd, 2008No surprises here. I can’t be arsed to find the story, but years ago, I wrote that I’d pick New Zealand in a state of collapse over Southern California any day. The theory could be put to a test here soon enough, the way things are going. It’s funny, up here in the Far North, […]
Freight Traffic on Upper Mississippi Halted
June 22nd, 2008Monitoring… Via: AP: The flooding in the Midwest has brought freight traffic on the upper Mississippi to a standstill, stranding more than 100 barges loaded with grain, cement, scrap metal, fertilizer and other products while shippers wait for the water to drop on the Big Muddy. “We’re basically experiencing total shutdown,” said Larry Daily, president […]
Security Fears Over Food and Fuel Crisis
June 22nd, 2008“In 2008, food could become an out front national security issue in the developed world.” —Cryptogon, January 2, 2008 Via: Financial Times: Western countries have upgraded the food and fuel crisis into a national security concern as they fear record high energy and agriculture commodity costs are destabilising key developing regions of the world. The […]
