Toxins in Germany

News is nothing if untimely, so forgive the brevity but I thought this link was worth posting on my blog. In another example of the critical need for food security, Germany is investigating the feeding of toxins to livestock that has already disrupted trades with 2 countries and possibly led to contaminated products in the UK. Nothing is more scary than having to question whether or not your food and water are safe to consume. This is why farmers here in the US go to such great lengths to protect their animals and crops and why there are so many government regulations in the food supply.

Brace yourself

As calamities compound, the world food price will continue to rise with supply shortages. It's amazing to me how quickly Econ 201 comes back to me. I can just see those diagrams of apples and lines are various as the DC freeway system defiling what had started out as a perfectly normal graph. Well, just in case you doubted why it's worth keeping food production here in the US, this would be one of those good reasons. Agriculture keeps pulling this economy along.

And for your reading, check out this BBC article on GM pigs to reduce phosphorus build-up. We discussed this in class last quarter and the idea is very exciting, although the reality has yet to be charted.

Fighting Hunger

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year. Fall is in full swing, the harvest is mostly in, and family can take some time off to spend together. Of course, the critters still need fed and there are always chores to do, but it's a time to celebrate the products of our industriousness. Farmers do so much to feed Americans and other people around the world and this is also a time to be thankful for their efforts and success in the past year and to pray for the same in the years to come. Agriculture has made great progress towards feeding the world but we are still a long way away from the final goal of feeding everyone.

As we celebrate the bountiful plenty many of us have come to take for granted here in the US, there are millions going hungry or wondering where their next meal will come from. Millions, even in the US. So as I sit here, dreaming about Thanksgiving break and preparing to head into the business of the holiday, I am especially thankful for the hard work of farmers and those involved in agriculture because of all the hard work they put in towards developing new and better ways to feed more people. Without their hard work we wouldn't be making the progress we are making towards feeding the hungry in our own communities or those around the world who struggle with food shortages.