Are we reaching the brink of a food crisis? Economic growth, contamination and harsh climate change have hit crops hard around the world. China is facing food shortages and price hikes that could translate into billions of yuan, while growers in Florida are shielding crops from record cold spells that could be devastating for the economy.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorWed, 19 Nov 2008 12:09:20 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/40564/us-farmers-see-leaner-times-in-stormy-market.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPlunging crop prices and soaring costs are hitting US farmers with a one-two punch that’s knocked the fight out of what had been one of the stronger segments of the nation’s economy, reports the Wall Street Journal . Corn prices have dropped some 50% since July, and prices for fertilizer and seed are expected to jump 40% next year.http://www.newser.com/story/40564/us-farmers-see-leaner-times-in-stormy-market.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 22 Oct 2008 9:51:19 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39653/lets-chow-down-on-the-food-system.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAmericans touch it everyday and it’s a matter of national security, but John McCain and Barack Obama haven’t raised the issue while campaigning: America’s food system is in dire need of an overhaul, Michael Pollan writes in an open letter to the candidates in the New York Times . The system is critical to energy, health care, and environmental reform, he writes: “Food is about to demand your attention.”http://www.newser.com/story/39653/lets-chow-down-on-the-food-system.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 10 Oct 2008 13:18:14 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39032/gene-tweak-could-grow-crops-in-toxic-soil.html?refid=rss_all_defaultScientists have made a breakthrough that could dramatically boost the world's food production by making more land farmable, Wired reports. A slight change to a single gene allows plants to thrive in earth made toxic by aluminum, which currently renders nearly half of the world's soil useless for growing crops. The metal severely stunts root growth, and scientists think they’ve figured out why.http://www.newser.com/story/39032/gene-tweak-could-grow-crops-in-toxic-soil.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 03 Oct 2008 1:07:50 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/38198/feds-dig-into-price-fixing-by-egg-tomato-processors.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe Justice Department is investigating allegations of price-fixing by tomato and egg processors, the Wall Street Journal reports today. California processor SK Foods is facing allegations it bribed buyers at six companies to pay inflated prices for tomato paste and chili peppers. Tomato prices have surged 16% over the past year, while overall food prices have risen only 6%.http://www.newser.com/story/38198/feds-dig-into-price-fixing-by-egg-tomato-processors.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 23 Sep 2008 14:52:07 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/37785/new-england-pumpkin-crop-patchy-after-summer-deluge.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAn unseasonably wet growing season has devastated the New England pumpkin crop, the Boston Globe reports. The rain has multiple effects, almost all bad: some overwatered gourds swell so much they burst, while beds are washed out and depleted of fertilizer, leading to undersized specimens. And “pumpkins are pollinated by bees,” one grower sighed, “and bees don't fly when it's raining.”http://www.newser.com/story/37785/new-england-pumpkin-crop-patchy-after-summer-deluge.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 18 Sep 2008 16:28:23 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/36805/un-urges-eat-less-meat-to-fight-warming.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMeat-eaters who want to help fight global warming can do so by going vegetarian at least one day a week, a top UN official tells the Guardian . The meat industry accounts for an estimated one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions, released during feed production and as methane by flatulent livestock. Meat consumption has gone up fivefold since 1950, and is predicted to double by 2050.http://www.newser.com/story/36805/un-urges-eat-less-meat-to-fight-warming.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSun, 07 Sep 2008 1:22:34 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/36416/farmers-hunt-wildlife-to-keep-greens-clean.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTo please cautious companies, farmers have turned hunters in California's Salinas River Valley, where 60% of the nation's lettuce grows. They’re stalking wild pigs, poisoning ponds and erecting fences—disrupting wildlife and destroying habitats in the process—to avoid another E. coli contamination, the AP reports. But some question the drastic steps, given limited evidence that wildlife caused previous outbreaks.http://www.newser.com/story/36416/farmers-hunt-wildlife-to-keep-greens-clean.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 02 Sep 2008 10:32:42 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35938/cambodias-food-crisis-fix-eat-rats.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFood prices have rocketed so high in Cambodia that even the humblest of foods has seen its price quadruple this year. That humblest of foods is rat meat, and it’s going up precisely because so many Cambodians can’t afford any other meat, the Guardian reports. Rats have been fleeing to higher ground lately as the Mekong Delta floods, making it easy for villagers to catch, sell, and eat them.http://www.newser.com/story/35938/cambodias-food-crisis-fix-eat-rats.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 9:46:51 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35289/as-food-prices-rise-lobster-treads-water.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAs global demand drives food prices to new highs, there’s one high-end food item whose price is in decline, Daniel Gross points out in Slate: lobster. In Portland, Maine, a pound of lobster costs slightly more than a gallon of gasoline, a ratio that historically was more like 4-to-1. And the prices get even lower farther upstate.http://www.newser.com/story/35289/as-food-prices-rise-lobster-treads-water.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 20 Aug 2008 9:26:17 CDT