Traditional and staple foods

What do the eco heretics mean for GM golden rice?

10-Feb-2014 By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn

Dr Patrick Moore – Greenpeace founding member and GM defector – represents a fear that lurks in the heart of all ideologists: Am I on the right side of the fence? Am I the goodie or the baddie? 

GM golden rice: Tables turn on Greenpeace

07-Feb-2014 By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn

A dissident Greenpeace founding member claims the environmentalist group has become “a force for evil” in its campaigns against GM golden rice.

Low-income Australians cannot afford healthy foods

05-Feb-2014 By Ankush Chibber

A healthy diet is for now out of reach for low-income Australians, with climate change affecting the ability of food systems to provide sufficient nutritious and affordable foods at all times new research has revealed.

SPC Ardmona hammers Oz PM’s criticism of ‘over-generous’ conditions

04-Feb-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Troubled SPC Ardmona has lashed out at claims by the Australian prime minister that the company is a “union shop”, and that the cause of its difficulties are because of “over generous” allowances and “extraordinary” staff conditions.

Philippine coconut farmers still struggling to recover after Haiyan

27-Jan-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Coconut farmers in the Philippines are in urgent need of assistance to recover their livelihoods nearly three months after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the country, the FAO has warned. 

India needs to match its agri-production with export potential

23-Jan-2014 By RJ Whitehead

India’s Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has urged agricultural businesses and ministers to translate the country’s soaring production wealth into comparable exports.

Oz scientists tag bees in first such study into crop pollination

15-Jan-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Thousands of honey bees in Australia are being fitted with tiny sensors as part of a world-first research programme to monitor the insects and their environment using a technique known as “swarm sensing”.

Aussies find way to improve sugar yields through new bacterium

08-Jan-2014 By RJ Whitehead

University of Queensland scientists, in collaboration with the Australian sugar industry, have discovered a new species of bacterium that could potentially reduce the need for nitrogen fertiliser in cane farming while also improving yields of the crop.

'We expect consumption in Europe to remain weak'

Natra to increase American and Asian presence by 50% in two years

19-Dec-2013 By Jenny Eagle

Natra announced it will open a sales office in Hong Kong this year, as well as its first production site outside Europe, in Canada.

Typhoon-hit farmers begin massive replanting programme

17-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

One month after Typhoon Haiyan struck a devastating blow to the Philippines, farmers who lost essential crops and supplies are receiving the first wave of emergency seeds, restoring hope for a productive planting season and much-needed food for the coming...

Not so free: Australian watchdog takes egg producers to court

11-Dec-2013 By Ankush Chibber

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed separate proceedings in the Federal Court against two major egg producers for misleading “free range” claims.

Olive oil war heats up in Australia

06-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Australian olive oil importers have taken the Australian Olive Association (AOA) to the competition watchdog over the industry body’s recent criticism towards olive oil imports. 

Rice gene discovery can increase crop productivity by up to one-third

04-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Scientists in the Far East have discovered a rice gene that in preliminary testing increased production by 13-36% in modern long-grain indica rice varieties—the world’s most widely grown types of rice.

Survey: Food inflation biting hard into India’s middle-class

03-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Inflation has been forcing households to cut down on their consumption of nutrient-rich foods by almost 40%, according to a new Indian chambers of industry survey.

Australia running out of food freshers

03-Dec-2013 By Ankush Chibber

Australia’s is suffering from a crippling and an ever-increasing shortfall of young people interested in producing the country’s food, putting at risk its grand plans for being Asia’s food bowl.

GrainCorp loses CEO to Coca-Cola Amatil after Treasury halts ADM move

02-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

It was revolving doors today in the Australian food and beverage industry as GrainCorp announced the departure of its chief executive, closely followed by Coca-Cola Amatil broadcasting its own new appointment.

N Korea food security still dire although harvest is up for third year

02-Dec-2013 By RJ Whitehead

An assessment by two United Nations agencies shows that staple food production in North Korea has increased for the third year running. 

High sodium: Intervention is one way to cure

26-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

A health programme based on community intervention has been shown to achieve a significant reduction in sodium intake among rural residents in northern China.

Crop protection chemicals add two-thirds of value to Australian output

25-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

More than two-thirds of the total value of Australian crop production comes as the result of protection products, meaning that some of the country’s harvests would be commercially unviable without them.

Indian soy processor now promoting sustainable exports to Europe

25-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

India’s largest soy processing company has teamed up with European marketeers and a standards agency to begin an initiative it says will promote the long-term sustainability of soy and increase India’s role in its export.

Fast action needed to save Philippines’ winter crops after typhoon

20-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s emergency chief expects that crops in areas of the Philippines that were worst hit by this month’s Typhoon Haiyan have been “severely compromised”, and has warned that action must be taken quickly...

Tetra Pak sends milk supplies to typhoon victims

19-Nov-2013 By Jenny Eagle

Tetra Pak has donated $1.5m to the victims of typhoon Haiyan, in the Philippines, and sent 500,000 packs of UHT milk.

Analysis

If Indians can’t afford onions, let them eat chicken

19-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

A press release arrived last week from India with the headline “Chicken becomes cheaper than onions”. Needless to say, it raised a few eyebrows at the FoodNavigator head office in Montpellier, France.

Officials working to assess Typhoon Haiyan damage to rice crops

18-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

While the scale of destruction in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan constitutes a major humanitarian crisis, its impact on rice production in the worst-affected Filipino provinces is yet to be fully understood.

Typhoon destruction puts Filipino farms and fisheries at risk

13-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

The UN’s Food and Agriculture organisation has been mobilising support to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the country causing severe damage to the fisheries and agriculture sectors, as well as massive loss of life. 

Palm oil special

The debate: Palm oil and troubled waters

05-Nov-2013 By RJ Whitehead

The danger is real: as population growth hurtles along, we are running out of space — fast.

China concludes 'successful' tests on transgenic rice

28-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Transgenic rice tests conducted by China’s Agricultural University have brought no abnormalities after 90 days of test according to researchers involved in the programme.

Japanese rice processor in $10m US debut

28-Oct-2013 By Jenny Eagle

Shinmei Co. Ltd is investing more than $10m in a rice processing facility in California to produce a gluten-free ‘Rice Bun’, an alternative to the burger bun, in the US.

Opinion

China’s new charm offensive highlights positive side of GM crops

24-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

China’s food safety authorities have really been ramping up their charm offensive in the last month. Not only have bodies like the China Food and Drug Administration been seen a flurry of activity in introducing new regulations and policing their patch,...

Minister admits India's warehouse problem, calls on corporates to help

23-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

India’s food minister has acknowledge something that everyone with a passing knowledge of the country’s food network has been aware of for years: that India simply doesn’t have adequate storage to meet demand.

Soapbox

Coke or milk? A philosopher’s perspective

14-Oct-2013 By Katherine Rich, CEO of the NZ Food & Grocery Council, and Julian Baggini

Food is a big part of all our lives not only providing sustenance, but enjoyment and a social experience. 

Singaporeans lead blasé neighbours in not being fazed by food prices

08-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Over two-thirds of Singaporean consumers are taking food inflation on the chin, saying they can absorb rising prices in their household budgets without having to make spending cuts elsewhere, according to a report released by Nielsen.

Indian farmers should fill home and overseas void by going organic

07-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

India’s organic food market is expecting to see grow at a rate of around 19% over the next four years, according to a new report. And to fuel this demand – and that of overseas countries – producers should battle bureaucracy and convert from conventional...

Research to prove that more food is not the solution to malnutrition

02-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Despite two decades of increased agricultural productivity across the world, there has not been a corresponding drop in malnutrition rates. And now, two new multidisciplinary projects at the University of Sydney hope to address this challenge.

Free range prices prompt Oz watchdog to question claims

01-Oct-2013 By RJ Whitehead

New South Wales’ fair trading department has been asked to investigate potentially misleading free-range egg claims after consumer watchdog Choice found that consumers are paying double the price of cage eggs for what is says products that are unlikely...

Special report: Part II

Indonesia’s plantation war with foreign conglomerates

30-Sep-2013 By Rick Beckmann, senior foreign legal counsel, and Aldi Rakhmatillah, associate, of Susandarini & Partners, in association with Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

How should Indonesia and, more to the point, the local community, benefit from foreign investment in plantations?

Near record crops likely to make dent in India's record food inflation

24-Sep-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Consumers are hoping for a respite from the crippling food inflation India has been witnessing after the government revealed a bumper harvest.

Special report: Part I

Indonesian plantation monopolies under threat

23-Sep-2013 By Rick Beckmann, senior foreign legal counsel and Aldi Rakhmatillah, associate, of Susandarini & Partners in association with Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

The Indonesian Government is planning to crack down on further expansion of groups in the powerful palm oil plantation industry and, indirectly, foreign conglomerates.

Indonesian trade minister urges cocoa import policy review

19-Sep-2013 By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn

The Indonesian deputy trade minister has said that after successfully increasing domestic cocoa grinding capacity the country should lower cocoa bean import duties to prevent shortages in the future.

RCT supports fucoidan’s potential as a ‘powerful, immune-priming agent’

16-Sep-2013 By Stephen DANIELLS

Dietary supplements containing fucoidan from seaweed may amplify the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccinations in the elderly, a population known to have an inadequate immune response to ‘flu vaccines, says a new study from Japan.

Wilmar honoured for omega-3 cooking oil

04-Sep-2013

Asian agribusiness major Wilmar has received the first Vitafoods Asia Nutrition Innovation Award at a ceremony in Hong Kong in recognition of its efforts to address the health issues of Chinese consumers. 

India’s food industry laid low by increased wastage

28-Aug-2013 By Ankush Chibber

India’s food production industry is being crushed under alarming post-harvest losses that may cross US$36bn in 2013-14, new research into the country’s agri-processing sector has revealed. 

RSPO aims to transform European market for sustainable palm oil

27-Aug-2013

Boosting industry commitment to sustainable palm oil, the impact of upcoming EU regulation and improving certification credibility are among the topics on the agenda at the first European Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) summit.

Research finds urban Indians have little time for healthy breakfasts

27-Aug-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Only 3% of Indians regard breakfast as an essential meal, nearly three-quarters do not eat an adequate breakfast each day and one in four skip it completely, according to a study sponsored by Kellogg’s.

Fake honey: UK manuka sales alone outstrip entire global production

26-Aug-2013 By Ankush Chibber

British authorities have called a nationwide alert to warn of the increasing quantity of fake manuka honey finding its way onto the country’s retail shelves. 

India’s cardamom traders cheer lower prices with exports set to rise

07-Aug-2013 By Raynah Coutinho

After a largely destroyed crop in 2012, cardamom planters have witnessed a bumper harvest this year. Yet while traders of other commodities normally cheer at higher market prices, those who deal with cardamom are now celebrating them going down.

FAO anticipates record-breaking Asian rice crop

05-Aug-2013 By RJ Whitehead

A deluge of early monsoon rains is expected to help produce a bumper Asian rice crop this season, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has predicted.

Soapbox

Why there is great urgency for sustainability in palm oil

31-Jul-2013 By Darrel Webber, secretary general of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Increasing global consumption of palm oil poses serious sustainability challenges and raises questions about leading consumer nations’ responsibility in managing the footprint of its global supply chain. 

Soapbox

'Evidence to break monopolistic monoculture of GE'

18-Jul-2013 By Claire Bleakley, president of GE Free NZ

Last week, I travelled to the Chinese city of Kunming to attend the International Conference on Ethnic Food Cultures and Food Safety. 

Tate & Lyle to boost Asian food systems through Chinese joint-venture

18-Jul-2013 By RJ Whitehead

Through the complex acquisition of a majority stake through China’s Jiangsu Howbetter Food Co., Tate & Lyle can now boast a platform to boost its food systems business in the country.