"food crisis" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

Not all caviar will scare off the squeamish: a fish roe-free Black-Eyed Pea "Caviar," a Deep South delicacy, is perfect for the egg-averse.

Booze is a wedding budget breaker. Luckily there are ways to bring down the costs without spoiling the shindig.

YumSugar asks: How do you make garlic bread?

A preview of National Geographic's special report on the global food crisis.

Bring out the zip of a tomatillo by blanching it, roasting it or throwing it in a sauce or salsa.

Could you match chefs to their restaurants? Take this quiz and find out.

Absinthe's Jeff Hollinger and Nopa's Neyah White share nine handy tips for making your own cocktail ingredients.

Watch out, carnivores! Ghent, a city in Belgium, strives to go meatless.

If you were planning to break the records and live well into your 100's, you might want to rethink that plan. USA Today reports that there's a new doomsday study making waves from Science.

Basically, the study states that the Earth will keep warming to the point where our hottest seasons on record will become the norm, and thus drastically reduce crop yields -- meaning a "disastrous food shortage for billions of people by the end of this century."

The piece does include naysayers, but even they don't necessarily offer a future-full-o-food scenario. Pat Michaels of the Cato Institute says that the agriculture industry will adapt -- citing the US increase in crops as temperatures rose. And Linda Mearns, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research says it will be "less grim."

Less grim. How's that for a comforting thought?

Just in case you're not certain that Obama is loved by foodies and farmers, read articles from food critics and writers, such as Ruth Reichl and David Kamp. Better yet, check out the blog Obama Foodorama. An article from the New York Times explains that the Obama family is viewed by many as one that cares about eating organic. Kim Severson states: "Mr. Obama looks like the first foodie president since Thomas Jefferson."

Tell me your national food concerns and I'll tell you why you're for Obama. Despite Obama's recent choice of Secretary of Agriculture, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsak, foodies around the nation view Obama as someone who will deliver change for both small farmers and ubran gastronomes alike. Yes, Vilsak supports alternative fuels like corn-based ethanol and is a proponent of biotechnology. Nevertheless, we can forgive Obama for not choosing someone like Alice Waters or Michael Pollen. With the current state of affairs(an ongoing war and the economic crisis), he has bigger fish to fry at the moment.

After the jump, find out specific requests from food critics, reformers, and chefs.

Last week, I listened to a story on NPR about countries in Central America, notably Honduras, that are turning to genetically modified crops as the global food crisis worsens. Honduras is the only country in Central America that has embraced genetically engineered corn.

Genetically engineered corn is against the law in most of Central America where the crop has been grown for thousands of years. They ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to protect their many diverse varieties of corn from contamination. But with the price of corn doubling, Honduras has recently decided to use GMOs.

The food crisis is bringing about a new trend towards genetically modified crops. Egypt just approved GMO corn, and China increased its funding in research on GMO foods. However, this may be a destructive temporary solution. Environmentalists are concerned that biotech crops could damage the natural diversity of plants. These crops are made by injecting new genes that were found in other species. In essence, they're getting rid of previous natural varieties and creating new ones.

What do you think? Should countries view GMO foods as a solution to the current food crisis?

What's up with these 'cleansing' diets and why are they so popular? In the latest high-profile example, Oprah has just completed a three week vegan cleansing diet, and, according to Access Hollywood, she feels not only refreshed, but awakened. She states that she is now more aware of the global food crisis.

Oprah's diet was based on Kathy Freston's book "Quantum Wellness." To find out more about her cleansing experience, you can read her blog. Apparently, everything she ate, with the exception of olive oil, came from her garden. I can understand feeling healthy after a cleansing diet, but I'm not sure I'd say that it made me more sensitive to the world's food problems. Oprah, coming from you, that just seems a little ridiculous, not to mention a bit insensitive!

Have you tried a cleansing diet? If so, which ones and how did they work out?