FAO in North America

Changes in the lunch line

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on January 27, 2012

Photo credit: Chuck Kennedy/White House

On January 25, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released new nationwide standards to govern school lunch menus. With close to 32 million students on school-run lunch programs, this update to the nutrition standards of the meals (the first in over 15 years!) is a milestone. The new standards increase the amount of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and limit the number of calories in school lunches. There is also a focus on reducing saturated fats, transfats, and sodium, with only low-fat and non-fat milk now offered. Mrs Obama emphasized the importance of this change to the larger effort to improve childhood nutrition:

“For many kids whose families are struggling, school meals can be their main — or only — source of nutrition for the entire day. So when we serve higher-quality food in our schools, we’re not just fighting childhood obesity; we’re taking the important steps that are needed to fight child hunger as well.”

For more details, read the USDA press release.

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Agriculture in the international sphere

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 26, 2012

The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has just published the 2011-2012 issue of its annual magazine, SAISPHERE. In this year’s issue, members of the SAIS faculty, scholars, alumni and students explore the theme, “Growth Ahead for Global Agriculture”, to coincide with the school’s “Year of Agriculture”.

The school’s focus on agriculture is an attempt “to restore agriculture to its rightful place in international studies”, according to SAIS Dean Jessica P. Einhorn, who writes:

“Agriculture is key to understanding the foreign policy of nations.”

SAIS visiting scholar Robert Thompson provides an overview of the challenges facing agriculture, examining how resource constraints, climate change and changing demographics threaten food security and pointing to the need for greater investment in rural infrastructure, education, health, and agricultural research and technology transfer to solve the problem of rural poverty through development of both agriculture and the nonfarm sector.

Other features explore such topics as historical and political trends in Indian agriculture, China’s agricultural revolution, trends in agricultural investment, high food prices and economic growth, global fisheries, agriculture’s role in Argentina and Brazil’s economic recovery, and the right to food and foreign land deals in Africa.

Read more or download the complete issue.

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Floating gardens

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 26, 2012

How do you feed your children if your fields are under water for six months of the year? In Bangladesh, the ancient practice of floating gardens – beds of straw and water hyacinths on which crops are grown – is making a comeback in the face of increased floods. Meet a Bangladeshi couple who grow vegetables on floating gardens in this video from IRIN News.

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Greening the blue can bring beneficial tide

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 25, 2012

Photo courtesy of UNEP
Healthy seas and coasts would pay healthy dividends in a green economy, according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme, FAO and other partners that highlights the huge potential for economic growth and poverty eradication from well-managed marine sectors.

The report, Green Economy in a Blue World, argues that the ecological health and economic productivity of marine and coastal ecosystems, which are currently in decline around the globe, can be boosted by shifting to a more sustainable economic approach that taps their natural potential – from generating renewable energy and promoting eco-tourism, to sustainable fisheries and transport.

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How can women’s land rights be secured?

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 25, 2012

Photo: ©FAOThe International Land Coalition (ILC) Land Portal and FAO’s Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition are currently hosting an online discussion – “How can women’s land rights be secured?” The organizers hope the discussion will enrich the debate in New York at the 56th Commission on the Status of Women (27 February to 9 March, New York), which is focusing this year on the empowerment of rural women.

The ILC, FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are organizing a side-event – “How can women’s land rights be secured? Learning from successful examples” – at the CSW on 1 March 2012.

Have examples to share of women successfully claiming their land rights? Effective policies and tools that can be replicated? Join the lively discussion already under way.

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Food security under pressure

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on January 23, 2012

©FAO/Olivier-Asselin
The International Council for Science (ICSU) is publishing a set of policy briefs in preparation for the 20th United Nations Convention on Sustainable Development (UNCSD RIO+20). One of these is on food security, and on the challenges to feeding the world sustainability and potential solutions. The brief advocates a “food systems” approach that emphasizes resilience and equity. Because access issues contribute greatly to food insecurity, the authors not only address concerns over production, but also distribution and trade. Read the full brief, Food security for a planet under pressure, on the ICSU website.

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Waste not, want not

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on January 18, 2012

Approximately one-third of all food globally is lost or wasted. According to an FAO report last year, developing countries face the greatest losses at the post-harvest and processing levels, while consumers and retailers are the biggest food wasters in industrialized nations. In fact, an article on Grist estimates that the average American family of four discards between $135-175 in spoiled or uneaten food per month. The article notes that fresh vegetables comprise the majority of the food wasted. The good news is that this waste can be reduced through increased awareness and behavior change. A fact sheet recently produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council provides suggestions on how to reduce waste and the associated monetary losses.

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A climate quickie

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on January 18, 2012


Do the snowstorms that pummelled the east coast and the midwest of the United States last year stand as evidence against global warming? Well, not necessarily, but this seemed to be a topic of much debate. A recent video produced by the Norwegian TV program Siffer helps distinguish between characteristics of “weather” vs. “climate”. Posted on the blog for the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security research programme of the CGIAR, the video is used as an educational tool to explain the distinction between climate changes and weather variations.

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New catch limits seek to sustain US fisheries

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 10, 2012

Photo: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationThe United States is imposing new catch limits on both commercial and recreational fishing for every species it manages. The rules, the outcome of a multi-year bipartisan effort, will apply to more than 500 species of fish.

The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin writes:

Although the policy has attracted scant attention outside the community of those who fish in America and the officials who regulate them, it marks an important shift in a pursuit that has helped define the country since its founding.

Unlike most recent environmental policy debates, which have divided neatly along party lines, this one is about a policy that was forged under President George W. Bush and finalized with President Obama’s backing.

“It’s something that’s arguably first in the world,” said Eric Schwaab, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s assistant administrator for fisheries. “It’s a huge accomplishment for the country.”

By the end of 2011, 40 of the 46 fishery management plans had annual catch limits in place, according to NOAA. The agency expects catch limits to be in place for all species by the time the 2012 fishing year begins.

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A bee under pressure

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on January 9, 2012

In the past several years, honeybee populations in the United States and around the world have experienced marked, and often inexplicable, declines. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a mysterious phenomenon of large unexpected losses of bee colonies that could threaten the pollination needed for food production.

New evidence from a study published in PLoS ONE indicates that the honeybee may have a new nemesis. Researchers at San Francisco State University have been digging deeper into how honeybees are being affected by parasitic flies, which were previously known to prey upon bumble bees and paper wasps. Infected bees harbor the fly eggs, from which fly larvae emerge a few days later. The honeybee leaves its hive, flying towards light, and eventually loses control of its body, meeting its ultimate demise. Flies apparently also carry harmful fungi and viruses that have been implicated as a potential cause of CCD.

Read more on Scientific American.

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