Soaring prices add 75 million people to global hunger rolls
Rome, 18 September 2008 - Rising prices have plunged an additional 75
million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of
undernourished people worldwide to 923 million in 2007, FAO said today.
High food prices have reversed the previously positive trend towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion
of people suffering from hunger worldwide by 2015, according to new figures
just released by the UN agency in advance of next week's General Assembly
session on the MDGs.
The achievement of the World Food Summit goal of halving the number of
hungry people is even more remote, FAO said.
FAO estimates had put the number of people suffering from chronic hunger
worldwide in 2003-05 at 848 million, an increase of 6 million from the 842
million in 1990-92, the World Food Summit baseline period.
Soaring food, fuel and fertilizer prices have exacerbated the problem, the
organization said. Food prices rose 52 percent between 2007 and 2008, and
fertilizer prices have nearly doubled over the past year...
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Petition to UN - Excerpt: '...It is not acceptable that even in a grim
situation with hunger and malnutrition killing nearly six million children
each year, huge percentages of available crops are still being fed to farm
animals.
In the name of humanity, a responsible global community can no longer afford
to invest 7-16 kg of grain or soya beans, up to 15,500 liters of water, and
323 m2 of grazing land in the production of just one kilo of beef for those
with the means to pay for it. More accessible and sustainable avenues to
secure food for all are desperately needed.
Unfortunately, even though the experts of the FAO consider 'Livestock a
major threat to environment', they merely recommend different farming
techniques, some of which entail the risk of damaging an already vulnerable
environment even more, perhaps beyond repair....' See: EVANA
19-09-2008
Simbashare releases AMMA DVD
In the wake of the 2004 tsunami a woman strives to expand the children’s home she has built. New children join those orphaned by war and extreme poverty, they learn from one another and help each other heal - forming bonds that bridge the ethnic gap, creating a new life in which they are all brother and sister. Their beacon of hope is Nandarani Devi, the children call her Amma.
Nandarani Devi has taken children from both sides of Sri Lanka’s ethnic war and is raising them as brothers and sisters - and in doing so is raising the hope for that country’s future.
The story is told by “Amma” and her daughter, Shree Rangani, who speaks eloquently of her mother’s work, how the children take care of one another, and how children orphaned by the tsunami differ from children orphaned by war.
The story is punctuated with musical segments combined with appropriate imagery and even some animation.
08-09-2008
Food for Life partners with SANTEE
Food for Life Global has recently added SANTEE as a new affiliate of the FFL Rural Acedemy for Youth (RAY) network. SANTEE, is and acronym meaning, the Sustainable Agricultural Network for Training and Environmental Education. To reach people with the message of how small scale farming and gardening practices can enhance the quality of life.
Over the past few years, interest in organic agriculture has increased dramatically throughout America. Understandably so, as this period has seen an alarming increase in heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and childhood obesity. What’s more, with over 70,000 man made chemicals currently in use around the world, we are living in an ocean of pollutants, and the public, by and large, is beginning to worry. Consumers are therefore growing skeptical about the food safety claims made by giant corporations in the food industry and their government regulatory agency partners. More and more people realize that the best way to insure the safety and nutritional value of the food they eat, as well as the best way to ameliorate the harmful impact of agriculture upon the Earth, is simply to buy organic - preferably local organic.
Unfortunately, modern education is almost exclusively focused on preparing children for an urban future, as consumers in a global “free” market. The fact is that, for all the fashionable talk about cultural diversity, schools, colleges and universities prepare their graduates poorly for anything other than a homogenized, fossil-fuel-powered, urban existence. But what is the future is as much rural as urban?
Toward the natural world, the education system emphasizes theories, not values. In the wake of the environmental issues now looming so large before us, Western education today—the education that has equipped and enabled us to drive the planet to the brink of crises--is no guarantee of decency, prudence or wisdom.
This is not an argument for ignorance, but rather a positive affirmation that we must look for help in a different direction. It is not education, but education of a certain kind, that will save us. We must look to the land itself and in particular to the people who “husband” it to find standards of truth that we can live by.
Santee Farm & Gardens prepares its students to cultivate an understanding of these problems by teaching organic farming, coupled with sound environmental education. We draw our strength from the instincts of ordinary people—especially indigenous agrarian peoples—who have preserved the intimate knowledge of species, biota, soil, climate and place, and whose wisdom is embodied by observation before it is taught or transmitted.
SANTEE, is and acronym meaning, the Sustainable Agricultural Network for Training and Environmental Education. To reach people with the message of how small scale farming and gardening practices can enhance the quality of life, we formed a 501c(3) non-profit educational organization in 2000.
Why incorporation, you query? Simple: we’re people—not profit—oriented. Quiet honestly, sustainable agriculture and industrial agriculture are two fundamentally different philosophies—diametrically and irreconcilably opposed. Where as the “rules of corporate behavior” are dictated by the imperatives of the corporate machine, we have chosen to link arms with people worldwide who do not conform to the expectations of a spreading consumer monoculture. We will not passively watch as the globalization of our food supply steadily erodes public health and both cultural and biological diversity.
What are we doing about it, you ask? We teach food literacy, literally from the ground up. We teach moms not to trust the appearance and taste of produce as a guide to food’s nutritional content. In fact, your immune system is inextricably linked to the immune system of our planet…or, in the words of a Mayan Shaman, “If you make an enemy of the earth, you make an enemy of your own body.”
As a publicly supported educational facility, SANTEE provides public access to training, tools, land and educational materials—all shared in a learning environment that serves as a rich resource for students, educators and policy makers on all levels. Our educational format includes a Visiting Student Apprentice Program, workshops, farm tours and a vigorous outreach program—delivering fresh organic produce--to local charities.
We currently care take 16.5 acres in the rolling Appalachian foothills of West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle near Wheeling. For more information visit
23-06-2006
FFL recieves HACCP Certificate
Food for Life affiliate in New Delhi, recently recieved the HACCP certificate from DNV (Det Norske Veritas) of Norway. DNV audited the midday meal facility of ISKCON's Midday meal program and found that it complied to the stringent requirements of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). In short, it meant that the Food Safety management of the facility was of International standards. In doing so, the ISKCON Food Relief foundation becomes the only Mass meal provider in the world to be certified with HACCP. This prestigious certificate corroborates the vision of the ISKCON team and of all Food for Life programs - never to compromise on quality.
13-05-2006
Midday Meal Program a Big Hit in Delhi
NEW DELHI, March, 2006 -- Heaven's Kitchen - Food for Life supplies midday meals to street children as an incentive to attend school. Catering to over 25,000 children across government schools in Delhi, the program whips our over 40,000 meals a day whith plans to increase to 150,000. The State-of-the-art kitchen here can beat a five-star hotel hands down. Among other equipment, a battery of rice boilers cook tons of rice while automatic machines churn our tousands of puri's (deep fried bread).
After gaining an optimistic nod from the United Nationa World Food Programme, ISKCON will be provided with technical assistance to revamp its production line. The program now operates in 8 cities in India, including Mumbai, Jaipur and Bangalore. Download Article
06-03-2006
Flooding at Gokulam
Colombo, Sri Lanka, December - Torrential rain recently flooded the Bhaktivedanta Children's home causing extensive damage to classrooms and building foundations. All the orphan children are safe, however, the orphanage is requesting financial support to help repair and finish their new extensions to the school. Food for Life global fully supports this project and it has been the major recipient of grants from FFL's emergency relief fund. To help, visit www.gokulam.org
06-03-2006
FFL Catering
Food for Life will soon launch a new Catering Service beginning in the US and then espanding to other countries. The catering service will operate from mobile kitchen trucks and will also serve to provide onsite food relief in times of nateral disaster.
04-03-2006
Organic Produce donated
September 29, -- A big quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables was donated on Monday by a relief organization based in California. Cem Akin, Director, of The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF) flew into Houston and immediately went to the whole food markets where he filled up a van with $1600 of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and delivered them to the Food for Life kitchen! FTPF is a registered non profit. More information
01-09-2005
Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu
In early October Food for Life volunteers in Dallas joined legendary R&B singer/songwriter Erykah Badu at her Black Forest Theater to provide food and entertainment to children of the Katrina Hurricane disaster. Italian-style pasta, cookies and lemonade were served to the more than 100 children and their parents. "We want to continue working with your people," explained the organizers.
Links: Black Forest Theater
11-08-2005
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FAO: Hunger on the rise
Soaring prices add 75 million people to global hunger rolls
Rome, 18 September 2008 - Rising prices have plunged an additional 75
million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated More information...
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