#Food Security

[ireton]

The 4 Big Meat Packers In America Are Making A Move To Bankrupt Small Farms In America Starting In August

“This is a way that they're gonna be trying to force us out”

“The big 4 packers are killing the American cattle industry right now. Projected by August, each cattle rancher that is selling their animal is gonna be making $30 less per 100 pounds on that market ready animal.

- The American cattle rancher makes about 30% of every dollar earned on that animal - With this gonna be set in place, this is gonna take us down into the twenties.

This is gonna be a real scary place for the American cattle rancher. ‌ ‌If they can't make a profit or make a living off of what they're selling, their ranches are gonna be put up for sale.

This is a way that they're gonna be trying to force us out.

- And not only that, the corrupt thing is they're gonna be marking everything up $30 to every 100 pounds that they're making in return.

So with that being said, guys, we need to get back to buying local, supporting our local people. And as always, buy American and buy local.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

In international development circles, most people are familiar with the World Bank’s data showing that extreme poverty has declined dramatically over the past several decades, from 43 per cent of the world’s population in 1981 to less than 10 per cent today. This narrative is based on the World Bank’s method of calculating the share of people who live on less than $1.90 per day (in 2011 “PPP” terms). But a growing body of literature argues that the World Bank’s PPP-based method suffers from a major empirical limitation, in that it does not account for the cost of meeting basic needs in any given context (see here, here and here). Having more than $1.90 PPP does not guarantee that a person can afford the specific goods and services that are necessary for survival. In recent years, scholars have developed a more accurate method for measuring extreme poverty, by comparing people’s incomes to the prices of essential goods in each country (specifically food, shelter, clothing and fuel). This approach is known as the “basic needs poverty line” (BNPL), and it more closely approximates what the original concept of “extreme poverty” was intended to measure. 

[...]

Extreme poverty is not a natural condition, but a sign of severe dislocation. Historical data on real wages since the 15th century indicates that under normal conditions, across different societies and eras, people are generally able to meet their subsistence needs except during periods of severe social displacement, such as famines, wars, and institutionalised dispossession, particularly under European colonialism. What is more, BNPL data shows that many countries have managed to keep extreme poverty very close to zero, even with low levels of GDP per capita, by using strategies such as public provisioning and price controls for basic essentials. In other words, extreme poverty can be prevented much more easily than most people assume. Indeed, it need not exist at all. The fact that it persists at such high levels today indicates that severe dislocation is institutionalised in the world economy – and that markets have failed to meet the basic needs of much of humanity. To address this problem, and to end extreme poverty – the first objective of the Sustainable Development Goals – will require public planning to prioritise the production of, and guarantee access to, the specific goods and services that people need to live decent lives.

[dontforgetukraine]

October 16th marks World Food Day.

It is not the first time Russia has weaponized food as a means of control and aggression (ex: Holodomor). In Ukraine's fight against Russia's war, it has become an unprecedented guarantee of food security for the world through the "Grain from Ukraine" program. This grain is distributed by the UN's World Food Program to recipient countries suffering food shortages. This is all while Russia shells grain terminals, blockades Ukrainian ships, and wages its aggression towards farmers in its war. Remember, much of the agricultural land is contaminated with mines and other unexploded ordnance.

In order to maintain food security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has listed what it will take.

Full and safe navigation in the Black and Azov seas.

Restoration of Ukraine's sovereign control over its ports.

Establishment of new ports

Expansion of the assortment of Ukrainian goods transported by seas.

Security guarantees are not just important for Ukraine, but for the entire world. Already Ukraine has delivered 228,960 tons of agricultural products to:

Somalia

Ethiopia

Kenya

Yemen

Mauritania

Nigeria

Sudan

Djibouti

Mozambique

the Democratic Republic of Congo

Palestine

Supporting Ukraine means supporting the world. History has already seen Russia weaponize food. Russia's war shows it is doing so again right now. If we fail to support Ukraine, don't be surprised if Russia chooses to manipulate countries that need Ukrainian grain.

[greenhorizonblog]

FOOD, WATER, HOUSING, HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION ARE BASIC FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS THAT SHOULD ALWAYS BE FREE!!!

[vox-anglosphere]

As with doctors, British farmers make their daily rounds too.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will be issuing the long-promised "grocery rebate" payments to eligible Canadians on July 5.

Months after Parliament passed the one-time benefit first unveiled as part of the 2023 federal budget, the payments will be hitting Canadians' bank accounts on Wednesday.

The food-inflation focused affordability measure is set to roll out to approximately 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians.

Essentially a re-branded GST rebate boost, the payment will be issued through Canada's GST/HST tax credit system, alongside the regular quarterly GST/HST payments. [...]

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Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[cognitivejustice]

Underground greenhouses are helping people to take back control of their nutrition and ease farming amid the climate crisis

[acti-veg]

The FAO roadmap was published at the Cop28 climate summit in December and accepts that diets “absolutely must [change] for human and planetary health”. But its 120 actions do not include reducing meat and dairy consumption in nations where most people already eat unhealthy amounts. Instead, many of the FAO’s recommendations are to intensify the efficiency of animal farming techniques.

“It’s very striking: the FAO doesn’t include one of the clearest interventions that would help meet both environmental and health targets,” said Cleo Verkuijl, of the Stockholm Environment Institute US and one of the eight authors of the commentary from academic institutions in the US, the Netherlands and Brazil.

“Also really surprising is the fact that the FAO completely dismisses alternative proteins,” she said. These had been shown to have far smaller environmental impacts than conventional meat but the FAO claimed, without providing evidence, that plant-based meats had “nutritional deficiencies”, the experts said.

A report from the UN Environment Programme (Unep), published in December, said “alternatives to animal products such as meat and dairy may contribute to significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the current global food system”.

[igottatho]

I like to see videos like this, not just because it’s happier than the massacres and blood shed, but to remind everyone that these are just normal people, normal children and normal everyday helpers. And even in the darkest of times, happiness can found in sharing with each other, and helping one another.

PS. I don’t understand any Arabic, really, but the heart knows, right?

I found this via instagram, on Nour Talal Alnajjar’s page, which you can find here.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Foraging has become a REALLY hot topic over the past few years. We even saw a surge of interest at the start of the pandemic fueled both by the shutdown, and by concerns about food security due to grocery shortages. My foraging classes are consistently the most popular ones I offer, and the Facebook groups I'm on are absolutely teeming with new people interested in getting started.

But as with any extractive activity, foraging has its downsides. The more people out in the woods and fields looking for edible mushrooms (and plants), the more strain that puts on local ecosystems. In my classes I advocate for only taking 25% of a given species in an area (unless you find, like, three chanterelles, in which case just pick the three chanterelles.) A lot of people have less restraint, and of course you have commercial mushroom hunters who will clean out every single marketable mushroom they find, leaving nothing for anyone else.

This is a topic that I don't feel gets enough attention in the foraging world, but we desperately need to be talking about it more. Most of us who forage do not rely on it as a primary form of food security, and have other reasonable options for acquiring food. Yes, it can be fun to go out looking for mushrooms and berries and such when we're out hiking and camping, and I am a big fan of what I call "incidental foraging"--picking things you find while you're doing something else. It's good to know how to identify edible and it's a nice treat when I run across something. But unless my situation changes to where my food security is seriously threatened, I do not personally feel the need to be one of those foragers where 90% of what they eat is something they foraged, especially when I am financially secure enough to be able to go to the grocery store whenever I want. I think most foragers these days are in a similar situation, though there are always going to be people for whom foraging is a necessary and vital part of food security.

So yes, I am strongly in favor of bag limits for non-indigenous people, hardship permits for those in financial need (and don't make the application process too much of a hurdle), and curbs on widespread commercial mushroom harvest. It's not just to save something for other people, but to reduce wear and tear on the land. Those mushrooms need to be spreading spores for the next generation, and I worry that overharvesting is going to have deleterious effects both on the mushroom species being harvested, and the health of the ecosystems they are a part of.

[ireton]

THE GERMAN FARMERS WON

After Bringing Berlin to a complete halt, the Government have backed down on several ludicrous taxation & net zero policy impacting food production. Of course you won’t see this on fake news MSM as they don’t wish you to know the wider narrative and/or implications of. This however is just the battle & not the war.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In Almería lies the world's largest concentration of commercial greenhouses, often referred to as ‘the sea of plastic’. This vast expanse of polytunnels, housing millions of kilos of fruits and vegetables mainly destined for export, stretches for hundreds of kilometers, a white panorama until the horizon. Also within this sea of plastic dwell the migrant workers who work to ensure Europe's supermarkets are stocked year-round. While they perform the vital task of ensuring Europe's all-season access to fresh produce, these workers often live in a state of physical and institutional vulnerability. This state of affairs remained largely hidden, until recent shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic and armed conflicts exposed the fragility of our food supply chains. Spain issues approximately 150,000 permits annually for seasonal laborers (European Parliament 2021). However, within just the province of Almería, there are more than 100,000 migrants working in greenhouses, 80% of them holding undocumented status in the country. This lack of legal recognition leaves the workers off official records, denying them universal rights such as labour rights and access to formal rental contracts. It is a dire situation that forces many to call the shanty towns surrounding the greenhouses their homes. During my research, I often heard how some workers pay up to 6,000 euros annually to greenhouse managers for the working contracts necessary to seek legal status in the country, turning the quest for legalization into a profitable business.  Almería serves as a primary entry point for migrants traveling from West and North African countries to Europe. For those who cross the Mediterranean without visas - the majority of greenhouse laborers - this work is virtually the only option for income generation on arrival. While informal greenhouse jobs provide financial support to workers and their families back in their home countries, they also perpetuate vulnerability in livelihoods and employment, highlighting and embedding a stark contrast between EU citizens enjoying affordable food and the undocumented migrant workers compelled to work in precarious conditions to provide it.

[dontforgetukraine]

"Russia continues to use food as an element of aggression. This year, the enemy has smuggled more than 180,000 tonnes of stolen Ukrainian grain through the port of Mariupol alone."

—Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal

Source: Russians steal 180,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain through Mariupol port

[nuroful]

via kandaka magazine on Instagram

[balkanradfem]

I got a question about how thin do I slice the zucchinni I'm drying, so here's some examples!

On the second picture, you can see I'm holding a thick slice with my thumb, and other thinner slices with the rest of my hand; that thick slice is the thickest I will go, and I will only do them that thick if it's really hot outside, 33°Celsius or more, in that case zuchinni will dry okay. They will always dry to paper-thin because most of the content inside is water, once it evaporates you're left with thin zucchini. And I'm not too precise otherwise, you can see in the last picture I'm holding bunch of slices of various thickness.

If it's not super hot, I'll make sure to do thinner slices, or even sprinkle some salt on top so they don't go moldy before they get to dry.

This is how much drying space it took me for those 2 little zuchinni from the first picture:

After they're dried, I put them in a jar and close it; you can fit 3-4 zuchinni in one jar, which is pretty cool storage-wise! The slices are done drying when they're completely crispy and hard, and they should be taken off the drying rack when they're in the hot sun, so they don't have time to absorb any moisture, otherwise you're risking getting mold inside the jar (happened to me once).

The jar needs to be super dry too, I will usually leave it opened in the sun for half an hour so I'm sure there's no humidity stuck inside.

You can put the dried pieces in stews, soups, on top of pizza, in vegetable stock, if you also have dry tomatoes and dry mushrooms, you can achieve a real good umami flavour with the combo! I made a pasta sauce from dry zuchinni and it tasted like mushroom sauce for some reason; another time I tried again and it tasted completely different, so that is a mystery to me. Whatever you make, dry zuchinni are very sating, I've always felt full after eating them.

I got another question asking how I protect it from bugs, and I don't, they're drying on my balcony which is not super filled with bugs, but there will inevitably be moths and butterflies laying their eggs on them, and I just live with that. I've been reading about it and people will put a fine net around their drying racks to prevent bugs from getting close, that's just too much hassle (and I don't have the net).

Dried goods will be fine for at least few months and you don't have to worry about the eggs, they're not poisonous, if you eat your zuchinni before they activate it's all good, for me it's never before February so I focus on eating the dry goods first!

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Toronto is about to be home to a pay-what-you-can restaurant that allows everyone barrier-free access to food. Created by Chef Jagger Sean Gordon, Feed it Forward is an organization that's working towards ensuring affordable access to quality foods across the city through a number of different initiatives, and they're about to add one more. Residents in the St. Clair West area of the city recently noticed something exciting going into a vacant space — a new location of Soup Bar by Feed it Forward, one of the organization's many PWYC restaurant concepts. Soup Bar has existed in the city in various forms over the years, including a pop-up at Market 707 back in 2017, and the latest iteration will be officially opening for business on March 1 for at least six months serving hot and frozen soups, stews and chillis.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada