 Leave it to the socially incompetent! Its gonna be seen as the whole burger and hot dog shaped soybean hypocrisy someday. Then they are slowly gonna move us onto one bio-chem mixture, taste and style will be banned (to compliment the existing stigma). Add Comment  FROM KVOA NEWS Cold temperatures damaging crops in Mexico NOGALES - Produce suppliers say last weeks cold temperatures haven't frozen crops in Sinaloa, Mexico since 1956. Now they're having to evaluate the damage before more products are brought to the U.S. "There are some plants that got severely damaged or some plants that were lost, so we are anticipating lower volumes going forward than normal volumes," Martin Ley said. Del Campo officials said they've never had to deal with this type of produce damage in the past, but thankfully not all was lost during last weeks freezing temperatures. "There was significant foliage damage and some damage to some of the fruits," Ley said. Ley said some vegetables and fruits were more susceptible to the freezing climate than others. "Tomatoes, peppers some eggplants still fare much better, and those plants are going to come back and recuperate," Ley said. Not only are produce suppliers noticing the affects of Mother Nature, but the Nogales Food Bank is also noticing a produce shortage. READ MORE  FROM PHYSORG China's drought may have serious global impact February 4, 2011 by Boris CambrelengEnlarge A Chinese farmer shows the dried vegetable seeds at his drought-striken fields in Zhouping, east China's Shandong province in January 2011. Wide swathes of northern China are suffering through their worst drought in 60 years -- a dry spell that could have a serious economic impact worldwide if it continues much longer, experts say. Some areas have gone 120 days without any significant rainfall, leaving more than five million hectares (12.4 million acres) of crops damaged -- an area half the size of South Korea -- China's drought control agency said Sunday. There are fears that the problem could send global prices soaring at a time when food costs are already causing governments headaches. According to the UN last month world prices broke their peak levels of 2008 to hit a record high. "If the dry spell continues into March or April, wheat production could be seriously affected, with losses of more than 10 million tonnes," Ma Wenfeng, an analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants, told AFP. "China would be forced to boost its imports." More than 2.5 million people lack drinking water, particularly in the eastern and central provinces of Shandong and Henan, which each have around 95 million inhabitants. Weather authorities are not forecasting much rain over the next two months for the regions around Beijing, in the Yellow River basin and along the Huai, the waterway that divides the rice-plenty south and the wheat-growing north. Shandong's Rizhao city, which means "sunshine", has suffered from its longest drought in 300 years, stretching back to September 11, according to local media. Beijing meanwhile has not seen any rain or snow for 100 days -- its worst run since 1951. The water shortage is also expected to worsen as warmer weather kicks in after two months of particularly cold temperatures. READ MORE  FROM ABC NEWS (AUSTRALIA) Floods driving food and commodity prices TONY EASTLEY: The economic impact of the Queensland floods is being felt far beyond Australia. The crisis is driving up prices of global commodities such as wheat, coal and sugar. Rachel Carbonell reports. RACHEL CARBONELL: Australia is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat and coal, much of which comes from Queensland. Managing partner at Top Third Ag Marketing in Chicago Mark Gold says the effect on Queensland's wheat crop is contributing to worldwide shortages and driving up prices every day. MARK GOLD: We've gone from $ US7.05 a bushel to $ US8.63 a bushel of Kansas City wheat. So that's almost a 20 per cent, a little bit more than 20 per cent increase so it's been a direct correlation. And really since, the big jump has come from really December first and today and we were up another 10 cents today. We went up more at one point but sold off a little bit. You know the shortages around the world - you know it just seems like every year for the last three years now we've had one problem after another with one of the major wheat crops. RACHEL CARBONELL: He says the price of sugar is also going up. MARK GOLD: Your sugar cane crop has certainly been affected by the flooding there. We've seen sugar prices at very strong price. Not like we saw back at 1972 and 73 but we're at the highest prices we've been at roughly 20, 30 years out here. So all of this is having an impact. RACHEL CARBONELL: The availability of coal, particularly coal used in steel production around the world, is also being affected. The Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told the 7.30 Report three-quarters of the state's coal fields are unable to operate and supply markets. ANNA BLIGH: There is likely to be a significant long term effect of that, not only nationally but internationally. Queensland supplies half of the world's coking coal needed in steel manufacture so there is a remarkable problem out there in the mining industry. READ MORE  FROM NEWS AU TINKER with the genetics of salmon and maybe you create a revolutionary new food source that could help the environment and feed the hungry. Or maybe you're creating what some say is an untested "frankenfish" that could cause unknown allergic reactions and the eventual decimation of the wild salmon population. The US Food and Drug Administration hears both arguments this week when it begins a two-day meeting on whether to approve the marketing of the genetically engineered fish, which would be the first such animal approved for human consumption. The agency has already said the salmon, which grows twice as fast as conventional salmon, is as safe to eat as the traditional variety. Approval of the salmon would open the door for a variety of other genetically engineered animals, including an environmentally friendly pig that is being developed in Canada or cattle that are resistant to mad cow disease. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/we-can-build-whatever-animal-you-want-to-eat-say-scientists/story-e6frfro0-1225927239022?area=technology#ixzz10tp4e5um Note: It is obvious to anyone that there is more then enough food to go around to feed everyone on the planet, however the following video is subject to misinterpretation, it is not saying that everyone can go on being an overconsuming environmentally neglligent iTard, it is simply saying that there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet. Wal-Mart’s profit rises on cost-cutting U.S. retail giant also raises its earnings guidance Advertisement By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO updated 8/17/2010 12:50:08 PM ET NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported a 3.6 percent increase in second-quarter net income and raised its earnings guidance for the full year as it benefits from cost-cutting and robust global growth in China, Brazil and Mexico. But a closely watched measure of revenue fell for the fifth consecutive quarter, dragged down by its U.S. Walmart division, as its main customers have felt the biggest impact of the economy's woes. Nevertheless, an upbeat profit picture lifted Wal-Mart shares by almost 2 percent, or 86 cents, to $51.27. Loading stock quotes… Index Last Change WMT 51.77 -0.09 -0.17% Quotes delayed 15+ min. The discounter said Tuesday it had net income of $3.59 billion, or 97 cents per share, for the period ended July 31. That compares with $3.47 billion, or 89 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose almost 3 percent to $103.7 billion. Revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.4 percent, worse than the 0.26 percent expected by Thomson Reuters. At Wal-Mart's namesake stores, that measure fell 1.8 percent while at Sam's Clubs, the measure was up 1 percent. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health. Shares rose 39 cents to $50.80 in premarket trading. "We continue to focus on our priorities of growth, leverage and return," said Mike Duke, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s president and CEO, said in a statement. "The slow economic recovery will continue to affect our customers, and we expect they will remain cautious about spending." As a testament to customers' tepid spending, shoppers are buying back-to-school items closer to the school year's start, officials said during a prerecorded conference call. Customers continue to have a hard time stretching their dollars to the next payday, and food-stamp use continues to rise, particularly in areas with the highest unemployment, the company said. During a conference call with journalists Tuesday, Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer, said that even the steep discounts on thousands of products — $1 ketchup bottles and sub-$4 cases of Coke — failed to lift sales as much as forecast because people remain frugal. In July, the discounter went back emphasizing "everyday low prices," rather than such loss leaders designed to get people in the store in hopes they'll buy other, profitable items. Company officials said that credit card transactions now account for only 15 percent of spending at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart couldn't immediately offer a figure on what it was in the past. Wal-Mart benefited during the recession as affluent shoppers traded down to cheaper stores. But it acknowledged in May that it's losing some of those customers, who've started to trade back up. Meanwhile, stubbornly high unemployment and tight credit are still squeezing its main lower-income customers, who are having more trouble stretching their dollars to the next payday. READ MORE | Consumer Resources
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