The Financial Times again distinguishes itself by being the only major newspaper to take the global food price rises at all seriously. On Monday, front page above the fold, an article on the UN's call for $500m in food aid to avoid famine. Yesterday, on rice rationing in the Philippines. Today, front page again, the announcement that the price of rice, a staple for over 2.5 billion people, rose 30% in a single day. ... read more »

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Posted on 28 March, 2008 - 21:51

Update
Thanks to Hande for pointing out that the video is now available to view and download at at the IFAD website and now on Google Video here:

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Posted on 28 March, 2008 - 22:46

America's going bananas, with two books on the subject out recently with almost, but not quite, identical titles: Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel and Bananas!: How The United Fruit Company Shaped the World by Peter Chapman.

I ought not to opine without having read Koeppel's work, but the interview I heard with him on the radio hinted at a key difference between the two books, one that appears in titles. Dan Koeppel appears to care a little more about the taste and fate of the banana, with a narrative that portrays everyone's yellow source of potassium as the real victim of industrial monoculture. ... read more »

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Posted on 29 March, 2008 - 00:03