Hello, Wednesday! On the menu:
The surprising thing about the food movement. A really interesting piece by Tamar Haspel appears in the Washington Post. Haspel unpacks a study done by William Hallman, a professor of Human Ecology at Rutgers University. (She also shares information from a study done by Ketchum, a public relations firm that works with the food industry). A provocative quote from the piece: “The moral of this story is that it’s easy to make it look like people care a whole lot more than they do.” And some provocative questions: “How many people really do care? Is there even such a thing as a food movement?” #mustread P.S. Here’s a link to the Public Perceptions of Labeling Genetically Modified Foods Working Paper, November 2013 (William K. Hallman, Cara L. Cuite, Xenia K. Morin).
The price of almonds has dropped about 20% since 2014. What’s going on? In a nutshell: the high prices almonds were commanding encouraged many California producers to add new plantings. The problem now? Too much supply, a strong U.S. dollar (which means it has cost more for India and China to buy almonds) and other factors. It’s complex.
“We probably pushed the price up too high,” says Darren Rigg. He handles over 50 million pounds of nuts with Meridian Growers in Tulare, Calif.
And this:
He says over-reliance on markets with a lack of infrastructure and shaky finances are the root cause.
But farmers are still planting. Ezra David Romero reports for NPR and KVPR (Valley Public Radio). A really #goodread.
Reminder: watch that White House livestream about #childhunger. We shared information yesterday about the White House hunger meeting being held today. The meeting is focusing in particular on child hunger. Even if you miss it, be sure to access the archived livestream here. And read this piece by Roberto Ferdman – it’s just out – Obama’s plan to give free lunches to millions more kids. In an effort to improve food access for impoverished children, a new pilot program is being launched through the National School Lunch Program. “The pilot program will allow participating states to use Medicaid data to automatically certify students for free and reduced-price school lunches.” Ferdman’s piece appears in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog (one of our favorites). ICYMI, our Q&A with Caroline Cahill, who works with Feeding America as part of its Child Hunger Corps.
Adlai Stevenson once said this:
“A hungry man is not a free man.”
And the UC Food Observer says this:
“A nation that does not address hunger and does not place an emphasis on childhood nutrition risks its national security and its economic future.”
Read more here.
Have a great day!