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... water is key to food security 23-08-2011 q&a with fao assistant director-general for natural resources, alexander mueller a farmer in burundi waters her crops ... the vulnerability of rain-dependent food production systems and the people who depend on them has been brought into stark relief by the situation in east africa ... everybody understands that water is crucial for growing food - but often in an abstract way ... while many people in the horn of africa are pastoralists, not crop farmers, the current situation there makes it painfully clear the risks and vulnerability associated with rainfed food production systems, especially as the impacts of a changing climate are now making themselves felt ... over the last 50 years, the earth's population doubled and the global food system responded remarkably to the increase in food demand ... toward 2050, rising population and incomes are expected to require 70 percent more food production globally, and up to 100% more in developing countries ... but some regions are coming very close to their potential to intensify food production, which is already leading to tension on access to natural resources, in particular water ... it is estimated that only about 50% of the food that is produced is actually consumed, the rest being lost in storage, distribution and at the level of end users ... that's not just food waste -- it's water waste too if production is irrigated ... the production of 1 calorie of food requires 1 liter of water ... with the world's average daily caloric requirement at about 2800 per person, the water needed to satisfy the daily food requirements of each individual on the planet is about 2 800 liters ... so reducing food waste is key to improving the efficiency of agriculture's use of water

... the public has only been given a month to comment on an issues paper guiding the formation of a much-needed national food plan – a period which is inadequate and must be extended, according to advocacy group the sydney food fairness alliance (sffa) ... the alliance, a network which describes itself as “advocating for a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable food system in the sydney region and beyond”, said it will be making a submission by the august 5 deadline but says the issues paper has not been well-publicised and some groups may not be able to meet the submissions deadline ... “the complex and challenging issues of providing for food security at a time of rapid population growth and climate change is something we all need to talk about – not just the groups that regularly make submissions on these issues ... “in scotland for example the formulation of a food plan was preceded by an inclusive national food debate that took many months and featured numerous public meetings ... “food security and access issues will be increasingly on the agenda as climate change and rising costs of finite resources such as oil, nitrogen and water result in rising food prices,” ms millen says ... “it is imperative to protect sydney’s market gardens to guarantee access to low-cost, fresh food and stop the increase in preventable diseases such as diabetes – that has much higher prevalence in low socioeconomic areas, new research shows ... australia may have a lot of space but the challenge is keeping local food-producing lands in australian hands and producing a variety of healthy foods, not just broad acre crops for export,” said millen

... the review, published in food hydrocolloids, investigated the uses of inulin in dairy systems as a fat replacer, exploring how the soluble fibre ingredient can be used to replace fats by mimic the features such as mouth feel and creaminess – and how these effects may be related to changes in rheology of the food system in liquid, semi-solid and solid dairy products

... the food and drug administration (fda) has outlined its strategy for ensuring the safety of imported foods in an effort to move away from seizing harmful goods to preventing their arrival, the agency said ... the fda’s strategy, laid out in a report issued monday entitled “pathway to global product safety and quality” , revisits many ideas that the agency has previously suggested, including those detailed in the recently passed food safety modernization act, such as increased computerization of import tracking systems and better regulatory collaboration ... it said that the fda intends to partner with other food safety authorities worldwide to create global coalitions of regulators, which will develop data sharing systems and ways of sharing regulatory resources ... the agency also said it would increasingly leverage the food safety efforts of industry and other third parties, and allocate fda resources based on risk ... ” the new fda strategy is intended to address upcoming food import trends, particularly the expectation that manufacturers will adopt new processes and emerging technologies in response to growing demand and squeezed supply for many foods and ingredients in the years ahead, leading to a more globalized food system

... queensland minister for agriculture, food and regional economies tim mulherin today launched a food policy for queensland to further build the state’s multi-billion dollar food industry ... “with queensland’s food value chain worth $18 ... ” minister mulherin said increasing demand for food stemming from population growth and rising affluence in developing countries presented significant opportunities for queensland as a food exporter ... “the policy, which we are releasing for public comment, is first and foremost an economic development policy to maximise the economic growth of businesses across the food sector ... “the ‘food for a growing economy’ policy puts our plan to grow queensland’s food industry on record,” mr mulherin said ... “through this policy the bligh government intends to deliver on its commitment to develop an investment framework to maximise growth in queensland’s food sector ... “the policy is built around seven themes that recognise the links between food and areas such as environmental protection, health and land use planning ... “we need to recognise the importance of food production to the future of queensland, and we need to do this through a whole-of-value chain approach ... “given that we currently export 80 per cent of the food we produce, this policy sets out strategies to create job opportunities and wealth for queenslanders, as well as outlining initiatives for working with key stakeholders to maximise industry growth ... ” mr mulherin said the queensland government was determined to get queensland’s first food policy right ... “the australian government has committed to delivering a national food plan, which we understand will focus on how the food industry adapts to economic, environmental and consumer-driven pressures,” he said ... “like the proposed queensland policy, the national plan takes a whole-of-chain view towards a sustainable, globally competitive and resilient food system

... food prices could double by 2030, claims uk based charity oxfam, which also estimates that demand in 2050 could be 70 percent higher than current levels ... at the launch of its grow campaign, oxfam warned of worsening hunger as the global food economy stumbles close to breakdown, with the charity’s chief executive barbara stocking warning that the food system “is pretty well bust in the world ... " according to oxfam, and the un's food and agriculture organization (fao), there are already around 1 billion people going hungry on a daily basis ... rising costs the charity forecast food prices to rise by between 70 and 90 per cent by 2030 ... they added that more people will be pushed into hunger as food prices climb ... broken system in its report, oxfam said that the ‘broken’ food system causes “hunger, along with obesity, obscene waste, and appalling environmental degradation ... ” it said that “power above all determines who eats and who does not”, adding that the present system was “constructed by and on behalf of a tiny minority - its primary purpose to deliver profit for them

... mp3"; consumers take a great interest in food ingredients, and value products that are healthy or are seen to be making efforts to improve nutritional value ... as this demand for healthy products grows, many food producers are being forced to develop new low-fat products ... however, the challenges associated with reducing fats in foods are complicated as fats play many roles in food, including adding texture, structure and flavour ... however, according to experts from nizo food research, by understanding the specific functional roles of fat in a product, manufacturers can begin to develop solutions that use alternative ingredients – such as proteins – to provide the same functions ... thom huppertz and dr fred van de velde from the nizo protein research centre said that by understanding what fats do in a food system, alternative ingredients can be matched for function and used to replace fat ... no ‘golden bullet’ “the main challenge is in that fat has multiple functions in food, so if you want to replace fat in a food, you need to focus on each function separately … it is not possible to come up with one ‘golden bullet’ which will replace all of fats functionalities in one ingredient,” said dr van de velde, senior scientist of ingredient functionality ... ” according to dr huppertz, senior scientist in dairy technology and ingredients, the roles that fat plays in food products vary greatly dependent on the product ... he explained that only by looking at different examples of food models can the industry begin to gain insight into the key roles that fats play, noting that in a cheese model, the role that fats play in texture is very important in ‘breaking’ the structure of the cheese to soften it

... the new study, published in food hydrocolloids, presents a new in-vitro model of oral processing ... researchers from the university of birmingham, uk, succeeded in creating a model to reproduce key phenomena occurring during oral processing, such as diffusion through the sample and compression in a model food system ... the initial study tested salt release from a biopolymer gel as model food systems, demonstrating that the in vitro model has good repeatability, and “proving the method useful for gathering data on salt release from a variety of structures,” said the researchers ... the authors developed and tested a new in-vitro system for following release of salt from structures – which can be related to oral processing

... the food industry should not rage against the idea of professionalised local food systems, nor unleash its lobbying force to uproot them before their green shoots can reach maturity ... yet according to an opinion from europe’s committee of the regions on local food systems, in europe the emphasis is heavily skewed towards large-scale, industrialised food production ... around 80 per cent of world food production is sold locally, but in europe that figure is just 20 per cent ... that means professionalising local food systems ... doesn’t that mean seizing back a slice of consumer pie from big food players? people won’t by local tomatoes and imported ones, they’ll by one or the other ... and if farmers have more bargaining power in the food chain, that means loosening the grip of the retailers ... food systems are not discrete, you see ... side-by-side on the shelves first of all, the opinion does not limit the sale of locally produced food to their traditional stomping grounds of farmers markets and road-side stalls ... from small beginnings, a mighty food brand grew the global food industry has a hunger for good ideas from the outside ... coordinated local food systems can act as incubators for the best kitchen-table ideas ... the opinion envisages that professionalised local food system will help more products, over time, gain protected status – and with it the global renown that comes with protected designation of origin (pdo) or protected geographical indication (pgi) ... keeping traditional varieties alive not only keeps a population connected to their food traditions ... there’s no guarantee that mrs dwarshuis’ vision of professionalised local food systems will become a reality ... but the political will for a rebalancing of local and industrial food seems to be there, and it might – just might – provide be the essential ingredient to ensure that farmers, consumers, local communities and the food industry can all harvest the fruits of local food systems

... financial results from the food manufacturers came thick and fast this week, with updates coming from kellogg, unilever and hershey, among others ... we will not compromise on our core belief that we have to deliver competitive levels of price versus the right reference point for each brand in each market" - unilever president of food, home and personal care operations, michael polk, on plans to raise prices due to higher input commodity costs ... "we will become stronger in confectionery but especially we are happy about becoming stronger in the snack bars and breakfast category" - raisio ceo matti rihko describes why the finnish company has bought uk food maker big bear group ... "if we want to protect the species and forests that are at the heart of wwf's work, then we have to fundamentally change our food system" - wwf head of campaigns colin butfield on the livewell diet which combines sustainability with nutrition