food shortage news stories on Newser

Insects: Our Next Food Craze?

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:16:54 CDT

Cambodian deep-fried tarantula, anyone? A chocolate ant wafer or curried cockchafer? Such meals are already popular in many nations, but now the UN is investigating whether we should all munch on the critters. In his Guardian blog, Fraser Lewry says stats favor an insect diet: After all, the world population...

Food Prices Will Double by 2030: Oxfam

Matt Cantor — Tue, 31 May 2011 06:00:19 CDT

The cost of food staples is set to more than double over the next two decades, Oxfam says, as we enter a “permanent food crisis." World hunger had steadily decreased for decades, the Guardian reports, but with demand exceeding production, the numbers of hungry people are once again on the...

N. Korea on Kim's Birthday: Let People Eat, Um, Nothing

Kevin Spak — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:07:05 CST

North Korea held its usual lavish celebration to mark Kim Jong Il’s 69th birthday today—even though the desperately poor country couldn’t afford to hand out its usual “birthday gift” of food rations to the people. In one northeastern province, even ruling party officials haven’t gotten their gifts, which consist...

Soon, We'll Have to Grow Meat in Vats: Scientists

Kate Schwartz — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 19:00:00 CDT

The global population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050, and some of the world's leading scientists say that one of the best ways to feed so many people is to grow artificial meat in vats. Though other ideas were presented in a set of 21 newly published papers,...

N. Korea Allows Private Food Markets

John Johnson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:10:00 CDT

North Korea has effectively admitted that it can't feed its citizens by allowing people to buy food and other necessities at private markets, the Washington Post reports. Such markets have existed under the radar for years, but the government order sanctioning what amounts to capitalism "abandons all pretense of a...

Another Big Aftershock Rocks Chile

Will McCahill — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:49:57 CST

A 6.1-magnitude aftershock struck Chile in the past hour, further jangling nerves on a day when the government mistakenly issued tsunami warnings for coastal areas still sorting out the effects of last week’s 8.8 earthquake. President Michelle Bachelet took to the airwaves today to reassure the nation, the...

Desperate Hunger Plagues N. Korea, Forces Change

Matt Cantor — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:10:36 CST

North Korea has, in its words, an “eating problem”: unable to feed its residents, it has become the world’s first nuclear-armed “beggar,” the Washington Post reports. Malnutrition has led to a spate of mental and physical disabilities—a quarter of potential troops will be disqualified because of retardation, and boys...

Mugabe Thugs Collect for Presidential Pig-Out

Rob Quinn — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:00:19 CST

Aggressive supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling party have been pressing the country's farmers and businesses for "donations" to fund Robert Mugabe's ultra-luxe 85th birthday bash, the Times of London reports. A wish list supplied to the Times includes 8,000 bottles of champagne, 8,000 lobsters, and 4,000 portions of...

Gazans Hunker Down in 'Worst' Time of All

Ambreen Ali — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:00:00 CST

Lentils and bread nearly are all Safwat al-Kahlout can offer the 20 relatives holed up in his powerless Gaza City apartment, he writes in the Christian Science Monitor . As Israeli tanks roll through the city's outskirts, family members have fled inward to his flat. "I took my clothes and underwear...