BBC World News - The World Debate - Food - Who Pays The Price?

From EGR Blog
Dwindling food stocks and rising food prices raise questions about who produces our food and how.

Urbanization, climate change, changing diets in emerging economies and the impact of supermarkets are putting new pressures on the land and changing the face of farming.

One solution is to support the hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers in developing countries. Yet just when they’re needed most, many smallholder farmers are finding it difficult to make a living and are leaving the land.

Should food be treated as a global commodity? Is industrial scale farming the best way to meet global demand and protect the environment? Or could and should more be done globally to protect small independent farmers and the food they produce?

BBC World brings together six international panelists considered some of the most important issues effecting the future of global food production in the BBC World debate “Food – Who Pays the Price?”. Click and watch above.

Op-Ed Contributor - A Fountain on Every Corner - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Can someone do an actual study and estimate the economic impact here? Bottled water has always freaked me out anyway, and without aggressive recycling laws it surely is a waste. What's up with importing water from Fiji anyway?

The Neural Buddhists - New York Times

Ideas from David Brooks about the collision of religion and science.

"In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation. Orthodox believers are going to have to defend particular doctrines and particular biblical teachings. They’re going to have to defend the idea of a personal God, and explain why specific theologies are true guides for behavior day to day. I’m not qualified to take sides, believe me. I’m just trying to anticipate which way the debate is headed. We’re in the middle of a scientific revolution. It’s going to have big cultural effects."

Tips for taming rising grocery prices | Special Coverage | Reuters

Some nice tips here for maybe saving some cash in the food line. The coupon thing does work, been there done that.