Whilst attention is paid to the desperate famine and hunger situation in the Horn of Africa a new study released by risk analysis and mapping company Maplecroft, has highlighted the food security risks in 196 countries across the world. The study was based on key elements of food security as laid out by the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which is measured using 12 indicators including availability and access to food, stability of food supplies and nutritional health status of populations.
But what do we mean by food security? For many westerners the concept of food security may not mean a great deal but it refers to the sustained availability and access to nutritious food. In a stable society food security is easier to maintain as it requires forward planning and careful monitoring from field to government level, ensuring enough food is produced and reaches everyone who needs it. However, in countries where stable governments do not exist food INsecurity often prevails. This problem is often exasperated by war and conflict, natural disasters, poor climate and failing infrastructure. For example, conflict may force people away from their homes and livelihoods resulting in less financial income which in turn leaves less money for food. Each contributing factor seemingly has a negative affect on another.
Many of us will have undoubtedly seen the recent news of contaminated cucumbers and salad vegetables in the European Union. The cucumbers, found to contain a strain of E.coli which can cause the deadly haemolytic-uraemia syndrome (HUS) have so far caused the death of 17 people, 16 of which were in Germany where the outbreak has been centred. More than 1,500 people have been infected by the enterohaemorrhagic E.coli strain so far with reports that the outbreak has reached the United States via those visiting Germany returning home to the US.
The priority has of course been to identify the source of the outbreak but the BBC reported today that those investigating the incident claim "we may never know" the source of the infection and that it could be weeks, or even months before the last infection is seen.
In a recent set of studies published in the journal 'Environmental Health Perspectives', scientists have reported that children exposed to pesticides before birth can have IQ levels distinctly lower than average by the time they reach school age.
In California several hundred women working on or living near farms where pesticides were sprayed on crops took part in a birth-cohort study. Researchers tested the pregnant women's urine for pesticide by-products known as metabolites and then tracked their children as they grew. At age 7, those children who's mothers had higher pesticide metabolites in their urine were found to have lower IQs. Some of these children had IQs 7 points lower than those children who's mothers had little to no exposure to metabolites.
Of course, pesticides are not just limited to the agricultural fields of California and many different varieties exist in cupboards and garden sheds across the globe. A study conducted in New York found that the common household pesticide 'chlorpyrifos', commonly used in homes to kill roaches and other pests, could be traced in the umbilical cords of babies and of 265 children included in the study, those with the highest levels of the pesticide at birth again scored measurably lower on working memory and IQ tests at age 7 years. Professor Virginia Rauh who conducted the study emphasised the fact that "this type of thing could eventually effect learning…so even though it's a small effect that might be seen at 7 years of age, when children are just starting school, it could potentially affect the way they read and follow instructions". Despite Chlorpyrifos now being banned for use in the home it is still sprayed on crops and along roadways where people can still be exposed to its harmful effects.
Less than a mile away from the hotels and bars of the Costa del Sol, journalist Felicity Lawrence went in search of salad - what she found was a 400 square Km greenhouse, human rights abuses and modern-day slavery.
Many of us have begun to question where our chicken or beef comes from, whether our coffee is Fairtrade and whether our fish was responsibly sourced. Asking these questions is very important and helps foster a deeper understanding of where our food comes from and who produces it but very few of us have ever questioned where our unseasonably delicious bag of salad comes from - why would we? After all a year round availability of salad produce has become so commonplace that we could almost be forgiven for forgetting that such foods rely on the warmth of a sun which is conspicuously absent from the sky during the British winter.
In order to meet our year-round appetite for salad the UK imports much of its produce from warmer climbs such as the colossal 'hothouses' of Almeria in southern Spain. However over the past few years as both consumer demand and food prices have increased so too has the need for a cheap labour force that can be switched on and off at a moments notice - and who better to supply this demand than migrant workers desperate for a job.
Mushrooms go great with the traditional British breakfast, an Italian risotto and now children's television!
According to San Francisco State University only a mere five percent of mushroom species have been discovered with as many as three million still to be found but a recent discovery bore such striking similarities to the famed children's cartoon character "Spongebob Squarepants" it now bears the (slightly more scientific) Spongiforma squarepantsii name.
For many of us terms like 'fighting hunger' and 'ending poverty' conjure up ideas of suffering, desperation and hopelessness but a single mother from Rwanda is turning the tables on these ideas and is living proof that efforts to alleviate the daily tortures of hunger and poverty can and do work.
Odetta Mukanyiko, a Rwandan farmer, has unknowingly become a hot topic and symbol of hope and success in recent discussions concerning the importance of supporting poor farming families in the fight against hunger and poverty.
38-year-old Odetta, a single mother of two spent much of the past twenty years trying to make a living off a small plot of land in eastern Rwanda. Growing food for her and her children she would sell what food was left over to local traders but at dismally low prices - making less than one dollar a day. Despite being self-sufficient with her food needs, Odetta was still subject to poverty.
Nestled between various forms of medicines in my cupboard such as paracetamol, aspirin, echinacea and even vitamin c sits a rather unassuming little plastic pot filled with something I consider to be my weapon of choice against a number of infections. In this pot is something not crafted by scientists in a pharmaceutical lab but crafted by nature - manuka honey.
For those of you unfamiliar with manuka honey, it's a dark golden brown honey made by bees which frequent the manuka bush (Leptospermum scoparium) which grows uncultivated throughout New Zealand - and it's recently been the subject of renewed scientific study.
So what makes manuka so special? The answer lies in its antibacterial properties which Scientists now believe could be used in conjunction with traditional antibiotics to fight a number of infections, particularly the 'superbugs' which plague hospitals. The benefits of manuka honey have been known by some for a very long time and its use in traditional/natural medicine is well documented but for the first time conventional medicine has begun to seriously investigate what makes this honey to special.
The European Parliament is currently reviewing a new directive on the 'provision of food information to consumers' which seeks to make it compulsory for companies using palm oil to label it clearly on their packaging. At present, many companies choose to label palm oil as non-specific 'vegetable oil'.
Palm oil is a popular food ingredient due to its pleasant taste, colour and smell and is increasingly favoured by food manufacturers as it is cheap to produce and is now used in everything from chocolate and biscuits to ready meals.
However, our love for palm oil comes at a price and the clearing of land for oil palm plantations is devastating the natural habitats of both people and animals in the hot equatorial countries where palm oil is sourced. As a result some animals, such as the orangutan, Asian elephant, rhino and tiger are now critically endangered.
Many of us will have undoubtedly seen the recent news of contaminated cucumbers and salad vegetables in the European Union. The cucumbers, found to contain a strain of E.coli which can cause the deadly haemolytic-uraemia syndrome (HUS) have so far caused the death of 17 people, 16 of which were in Germany where the outbreak has been centred. More than 1,500 people have been infected by the enterohaemorrhagic E.coli strain so far with reports that the outbreak has reached the United States via those visiting Germany returning home to the US. 
Tuesday 21 June 2011
For many of us terms like 'fighting hunger' and 'ending poverty' conjure up ideas of suffering, desperation and hopelessness but a single mother from Rwanda is turning the tables on these ideas and is living proof that efforts to alleviate the daily tortures of hunger and poverty can and do work. 
The European Parliament is currently reviewing a new directive on the 'provision of food information to consumers' which seeks to make it compulsory for companies using palm oil to label it clearly on their packaging. At present, many companies choose to label palm oil as non-specific 'vegetable oil'. 
