On Monday, 11 October 2010 three Australians of the Year for 2010 will host a once-in-a-lifetime dinner in Sydney – Nourish.Held at b2 Studios in Alexandria, Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry will challenge and nourish your mind, Senior Australian of the Year Maggie Beer will nourish your body and Ronni Kahn, Local Hero for 2010, and founding director of renowned food rescue charity, OzHarvest, will nourish your soul. This will be a night that will celebrate the extraordinary... ...Read more »

* Kraft Foods to Donate Five Meals to World Food Programme for Every Photo of Play Uploaded to the Company’s New Corporate Facebook Site * 14,000 Employees in 50 Countries to Volunteer during Delicious Difference Week, including 1,500 in U.S. Who Will Build Playgrounds with KaBOOM! Kraft Foods yesterday launched a worldwide initiative to celebrate play and fight world hunger. Through an app on Kraft Foods’ corporate Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/kraftfoodscorporate?v=app_149288021757524),... ...Read more »

A team of scientists at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics has successfully used genetic modification (GM) to improve the salt tolerance of rice, offering hope for improved rice production around the world. The research team has used a new GM technique to trap salt in the root of the rice plant, reducing the amount of toxic salt building up in the plant and increasing its tolerance to salinity. This new research into rice builds on previous work into the salt tolerance of plants... ...Read more »

One of the world’s most sophisticated plant research facilities – opened in Adelaide last week – is expected to make significant advances in international agricultural sustainability and deliver pronounced benefits to Australia’s agriculture and horticulture industries, according to researchers. Based at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus, the $30 million facility known as ‘The Plant Accelerator’ is the largest and most advanced public facility of... ...Read more »

The UN food agency has advised that a fall in food prices below the levels seen before prior to 2008 are highly unlikely given market fundamentals. Food prices soared early last year as talk of a looming food crisis dominated news headlines. Prices of many commodities then began to fall around the middle of the year as fears about the global economy led to demand reductions and a wave of selling. Food prices still remained high based on historical levels, however, and, with the global economy recovering,... ...Read more »

A new report from the UK has shone the light on the current food security situation and called for greater action to deal with the threat. “If people go hungry then political stability goes out of the window,” according to the Rt Hon Michael Jack – the Chairman of the Committee publishing the report on behalf of  the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). “This is a key lesson that Defra must learn from last year’s food price hike when some... ...Read more »

A new report released last week has shone the spotlight on food production as the food needs of the global population are expected to soar by around 50 per cent in the next 40 years.The report, produced by Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s leading global investment banks, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, recommended a framework for investing in sustainable agriculture against a backdrop of massive population growth... ...Read more »

Because food is a basic necessity, the agriculture and food sectors are showing more resilience to the global economic crisis than other industries. But the risks could increase if the economic downturn deepens, according to a new report by the OECD and FAO released overnight.Falls in agricultural prices and in the production and consumption of farm goods are likely to be moderate as long as the economic recovery begins within two to three years, says the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2009-2018.... ...Read more »

With the second-highest recorded cereals crop expected this year and stocks replenished, the world food supply looks less vulnerable to shocks than it was during last year’s food crisis, FAO said in its latest Food Outlook report. But some potential dangers remain, it also noted. “In spite of strong gains in recent weeks, international prices of most agricultural commodities have fallen in 2009 from their 2008 heights, an indication that many markets are slowly returning into balance,”... ...Read more »

A joint statement made by Australian, Canadian and US Farmer, Environmental and Consumer Organisations has been released, restating opposition to genetically modified (GE) wheat and commitment to stop commercialisation of GE traits in wheat crops. The statement, titled “Definitive Global Rejection of Genetically Engineered Wheat” makes the following arguments for naturally-grown wheat and against GM wheat: - wheat accounts for “two-thirds of the diet of the world’s population”; -... ...Read more »